Society for Clinical Research Sites Announces Winning Sponsor and CRO of 2015 Eagle Award - Merck & Co. and Quintiles
ELLICOTT CITY, Md., Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), the first global trade organization fully dedicated to representing the interests of clinical research sites, announced at its 2015 Global Site Solutions Summit that Merck & Co. is the winning sponsor of the 2015 Eagle Award, and Quintiles garnered honors as the winning CRO.
Since 2009, the Eagle Award annually has recognized the sponsor and CRO organizations that are dedicated to creating positive relationships with sites, as voted on by the sites. Winners are judged according to their outstanding leadership, professionalism, integrity, passion and dedication to advancing the clinical research profession through a strong site partnership.
This year's winners were chosen from a record number of nominations from SCRS members and almost 3,000 votes cast by sites from around the globe.
"One of our primary goals is to be a 'partner of choice' with all of our constituencies," said Andy Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Trial Operations at Merck. "Winning the 2015 Eagle Award is spectacular news and clear acknowledgement that our efforts to form solid relationships with investigators and clinical sites is recognized and appreciated. For that we can thank our clinical monitoring team and our efforts to implement new strategies that put monitoring front and center in developing strong ties with sites, including hiring Mark Travers in a new position as Head of Monitoring Excellence at Merck. Monitoring is a core competency for our company. I want to thank SCRS for the excellent job they do in pulling together the collective view of this segment of our industry."
"It is a tremendous honor to be recognized for this award three years in a row," said Jeanne Hecht, senior vice president and global head, Site & Patient Networks at Quintiles. "This award reflects Quintiles' commitment to continually enhancing site relationships. I would like to thank our dedicated employees at Quintiles, as well as the talented individuals and teams with whom we work at investigator sites around the world. Together we have a relentless focus to accelerate the delivery of needed therapies to patients."
"The winning sponsor and CRO of the 2015 Eagle Award were selected exclusively on votes cast from the sites," states Christine Pierre, SCRS President. "From the record number of votes cast this year, it is clear there was great enthusiasm to recognize the sponsor and CRO who have exemplified an exceptional working relationship with the sites. SCRS applauds the efforts of Merck & Co. and Quintiles to raise the industry standards by initiating strong partnerships with the clinical research sites."
The selection criteria for finalists included a willingness to collaborate on protocol design and execution, availability of a qualified staff to support the sites, financial consideration to the sites, and potential for future partnership. SCRS members nominated the sponsor and CRO they had worked with in the past 18 months that they believed exemplified these characteristics. The final nominees were sponsors and CROs that ranked in the 75th percentile or higher of initial nominations.
In addition to Merck & Co., this year's sponsor finalists for the Eagle Award were: Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc., Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Lilly, Nektar, Novavax, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer.
Joining Quintiles as the 2015 CRO finalists were: INC Research, iVentiv Health, Medpace, PAREXEL International, PRA Health Sciences, and Target Health.
The 2016 Site Solutions Summit will be held October 13-16, 2016 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort in Boca Raton, Florida.
About SCRS
SCRS is a global trade organization founded in 2012 that represents more than 2,600 research sites in 42 countries. SCRS' mission is to unify the voice of the global clinical research site community for greater site sustainability. SCRS has become an active partner in industry-wide initiatives and dialogues focused on improving the clinical research enterprise. Sites, as well as companies that sponsor or support the work conducted at clinical research sites, will benefit from membership and partnership. Visit MySCRS.org.
SOURCE Society for Clinical Research Sites
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