The US market for clinical trial management systems was worth US$237.6 million last year and is expected to show a compound annual growth rate of 14.5% between 2007 and 2014, a new analysis says.
With the globalisation of clinical trials, sponsor companies and contract research organisations are increasingly looking for tools that will enable them to view, manage and discuss these trials across multiple sites, notes the analysis by Frost & Sullivan.
By employing intelligent applications and providing access to clean data, clinical trial management systems help to improve overall efficiency and shorten study timelines, lowering overall costs through better utilisation of resources, Frost & Sullivan points out. Moreover, the systems use automated checks to ensure the reliability of data, thereby reducing the need for expensive back-end queries and reconciliation.
CTMS is also emerging as a key differentiating factor for CROs in a highly competitive marketplace, Frost & Sullivan observes. Another driver is growing pressure to explain the rapid rise in the number of post-marketing adverse events, which has prompted CROs to invest in tools that capture and manage trial data more effectively.
“CTMS has the potential to enable decision-making and improve patient safety protection,” commented Frost & Sullivan research analyst Barath Shankar. “The success of implementing electronic data capture solutions is a strong driver for the implementation of CTMS solutions.”
System vendors will increasingly deal directly with CROs as primary decision-makers, the analysis predicts, adding that contract research organisations will be “conscientious” about selecting a CTMS provider as “sponsors will prefer CROs that function as a one-stop shop and offer integrated solutions for running and managing trials”.
