CRO

InVentiv partners up for policy, site selection

CRO inVentiv Health ($VTIV) has struck up two deals to expand its offerings, launching a policy-focused joint venture and a partnership aimed at clinical trial site selection.

First and most interesting is the policy arm, formed with Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, a bipartisan lobbying firm. The two have united to launch Breakaway Policy Strategies, a Washington, DC-based subsidiary that will offer consulting services to drugmakers on changing regulation, coverage policies and the evolving American healthcare system.

InVentiv has recruited former top congressional aides and veterans of lobbying groups like PhRMA to lead its foray into policy, appointing Dean Rosen, former health policy director for ex-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, to serve as CEO. Added to inVentiv's offerings in clinical development, market access and PR, Breakaway allows the CRO to offer end-to-end services to its clients, from early trials all the way through Medicare reimbursement consultation, the company said.

Secondly--and more in line with how inVentiv keeps the lights on--the company has partnered with ViS Research to tackle the bête noire of clinical site selection.

According to inVentiv, drug developers waste about $10 billion a year on poor site selection, delaying trials, pushing back approvals and scuttling plans. The partners say they've developed an analytics platform that charts every relevant data point about a potential trial site, allowing sponsors to vet factors like local patient populations, technical capabilities and personnel before committing to a location, making sure they're not making a bad bet at the outset.

The partnership falls under inVentiv's Clinical Trial Recruitment Solutions business, which in June landed an agreement with PatientsLikeMe, an online community of more than 200,000 people.

- read the Breakaway announcement
- get more on the ViS partnership