Standard operating procedures (SOPs) have become the documentation backbone of our industry and, yes, at times, a major pain in the neck. Those of us who were around during the 80s may be able to recall fuzzy memories of SOPs being a thing . Fast forward to 2019, past the birth of ICH, the evolution of outsourcing, the techno explosion and the FDA’s 21 CFR Part 11, the EU obsession with quality systems, and the more recent rise of the big vendor. Today, we’re buried in mountains of SOPs.

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We discuss three essentials for designing a compliance strategy to ensure patient safety and data integrity throughout the decentralized drug development process.

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Over the last 10 years, the face of clinical research & development (R&D) and pharmacovigilance (PV) outsourcing has dramatically changed. What was a common industry scenario by 2010 — a full-scale operational pharma company utilizing both international and U.S.-based contract research organizations (CROs) to execute clinical investigator site monitoring and data management — has evolved into a new common scenario in 2019. More than ever, we see what I call a stick-figure pharma company (just the bones) utilizing vendors to execute as many of the required drug development processes as they possibly can. In fact, it’s not surprising to see a company using multiple vendors for the same process, such as regulatory reporting of expedited adverse event cases, investigator site monitoring, multiple types of auditing, and manufacturing. In my consulting work, I meet and interview numerous pharma employees at all levels who struggle when asked to explain how their stick-figure company connects with all the good clinical practice (GCP) and good pharmacovigilance (GVP) practice vendors in play.

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Global biopharma regulations and guidelines require that individuals involved in conducting clinical trials be qualified by a combination of education, training, and experience. The components are straightforward to implement regarding internal employees, but not so clear when it comes to part-time consultants contracted to intermittently execute specific good clinical practice (GCP) tasks. Discover three trips for training independent consultants.

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