Articles
The Vendor Tango -
Four Traits to Help You Choose Your EDC Technology Partner Wisely
By Timothy Pratt, PhD
Originally published in Applied Clinical Trials EDC Supplement, March 2008
You're in a strong, growing company. Your new drug or device is likely to make a big impact in the market, and you need an EDC/eClinical partner to help you get it there. Who should you choose? Who is the right dance partner for your organization? There are a lot of companies in the EDC/ eClinical space, most offering a product that looks attractive. It certainly seemed as if there were dozens of new players at the 2007 DIA meeting in Atlanta - a fact that did not escape the attention and concern of others in the industry.1 It may well be that the Health Industry Insights research results published in 2007 indicating that EDC/eClinical technologies were poised for double digit adoption growth (from 30% of all trials during 2005 to over 75% in 2010)2,3 are driving both sponsor interest and entrepreneurial vendor activity. The standing room only EDC sessions at the SCDM conference in September 2007 reinforced that such a move is underway.
This article will not deal with the questions of which EDC feature or product is more appropriate for particular circumstances. The focus will not be on the product as such - after all, if your blockbuster drug costs between $800 million4 and $1.7 billion5 to get to the market and every week it's not there represents between $2 million and $200 million in lost revenue,6 isn't it far more important to you that the vendor is stable and will help you get there? So, this article will deal with the much more fundamental issue of corporate vendor stability. Even if you're not developing the next $10 million a day drug, the success of your product - and the future of your company and job - can and does depend on selecting the right technology partner. Because no matter how good you are, it takes two to tango, and beauty certainly can be only skin deep.
