CRO

INC Research joins clinical trial awareness push

INC Research has signed on with a Boston-based nonprofit to support efforts into growing clinical trial awareness and participation.

The Raleigh, NC-based contract research firm, along with Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP), will develop an education campaign to stress the “importance of clinical trial participation in advancing public health,” according to a release.

Through a headlining event “Inspiring Hope” in September, CISCRP and INC plan to bring together CRO industry leaders to brainstorm ways to promote among the public the importance of the clinical testing process.

Founded in 2003, CISCRP has reached nearly 430,000 households with its awareness efforts and says it generates 120 million impressions each quarter. The nonprofit has support from drugmakers such as Pfizer, Biogen, Roche’s Genentech and Shire.

Aside from the “Inspiring Hope” event, INC plans to participate in the campaign by sponsoring CISCRP activities and teaming up for future initiatives. Last year, CISCRP gathered data from a Perceptions & Insights survey which INC will assist in interpreting.

“CISCRP has been doing great work in this area for more than a decade and INC Research is proud to support their efforts to further increase awareness of the critical role patients play in clinical research and the value that this research brings to the development of new therapies,” Clare Grace, VP of site and patient access at INC, said in a statement.

For INC, the move comes amid launch efforts for Catalyst, a social platform the company hopes can bring it closer to clinical trial sites to create uniformity in the testing process. The company, which has long maintained that better relationships with sites can improve outcomes, joined the Society for Clinical Research Sites at the highest membership level in 2014.

INC is projecting record revenue in 2016 of more than $1 billion, nearly 10% above last year’s total. Now employing more than 6,400 people in 50 countries, the firm raised $150 million in a 2014 IPO. Last month it hired Quintiles vet Judith Ng-Cashin to serve as its chief scientific officer.

- here's the release