A leading group of contract research organisations under the auspices of ARCS Australia are calling on the federal government to improve policies and processes around the national coordination of clinical trials in Australia.
In a newly released position statement, 15 leading Australian CROs have called for action to ensure:
- Australia remains open for establishing new clinical trials and supporting ongoing clinical trials, which save lives, improves the health and quality of life of participants;
- embeds key virtual processes and decentralised trials as essential to improve the conduct of clinical trials in Australia; and
- eliminates redundancy to improve start-up times and competitiveness internationally.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has been a transformational disruption for all aspects of society, including the healthcare sector. The clinical trials sector has adapted quickly to ensure the successful continuation and management of clinical trials during the acute phase of the pandemic," said ARCS Australia in a statement.
Dr Daniela Caiazza, chair of the CRO steering committee and director clinical operations ANZ at Novotech, said, “Australia is in a unique position to capture new business and continue to build the sector, so we are calling for a national approach to tackle some of the challenges through the current COVID-19 crisis and beyond.”
Dr Shanny Dyer, CEO of ARCS Australia, added, “The position statement sets out what needs to be done to remove the most significant barriers to how clinical trials are delivered in Australia.
“ARCS Australia has supported the CRO sector by providing a platform for open and frank dialogue to identify common issues. ARCS will continue to provide high quality accredited training on international standards and GCP as well as specific training on all aspects of conducting clinical trials.”