Contract Research Organizations: Functions, Importance & Market Growth

In the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, research work is of prime importance and the demand for research associates is high. With the growing demand for better healthcare and medical breakthroughs, all research organizations are competing against each other to have the best research associates helping to reach that pinnacle of success everyone is looking forward to. This is exactly where the contract research organizations (CROs) come in. These research associates are often working as a freelance agent or with an official contract with the concerned CRO providing high quality research assistants.

The primary functions of these research assistants are preclinical research, clinical research, biopharmaceutical development and clinical trials management. They are hired by both pharmaceutical giants and research start ups on a contract basis. Domestic recruitment as well as offshore placements is done by these firms to get hold of the best, qualified and intelligent team. Nearly every clinical research organisation provides clinical-trial support and clinical-study for drugs that are developed in the labs of these esteemed organizations. The challenges faced by the pharmaceutical companies are many and the need to recruit specialised officers for each of them is imperative. But the cost to the company is huge which a burden becomes too often.

From the conceptualisation, gathering raw materials, in-house experiments, clinical trials, marketing and approval of the product, everything is done by the team of research associates who have been trained rigorously to come up with new ideas and techniques to successfully complete the job given by their CRO. It is only because of this reason that the market for clinical studies have bloomed in the recent past and thus the increase in competition. There are domestic as well as international firms that provide support to pharmaceutical and medical agencies; also there is small, independent and low budget clinical research organisation that specializes in certain fields and provides excellent support staff in the matter.

Even though these research assistants are hired for quality assurance and quality control, the product lies within the grasp of the product sponsor and responsibility is heaped on to them for the quality and integrity of the work. The clinical research industry has been growing at a very high rate and most of the research associates are outsourced from India and China. Drugs for Cancer, HIV, Cardiovascular diseases and other infections are still not available and hence the demand to meet these challenges is potentially infinite. One critical breakthrough in clinical research would mean profits in billions and copyrighted medicines are hardly infringed upon due to the various laws protecting research based firms and more importantly, the medical and pharmaceutical industry. Currently, there are more than 1200 contract research organizations in the world, meeting the demands of the international medical industry and healthcare, improving the standards of life and increasing the average life-span.

ken smith is an experienced clinical research coordinator and emphasizes the importance of contract research organizations in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Visit his website to learn how to hire the best clinical research organisation for conducting your medical trials.