Lisa Henderson
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Even before the failing economy, I believe we were all doing more in regard to managing our professional and personal lives.
You manage your airline reservations, your banking, and shopping via the Internet. While it is maybe more convenient, the
onus is on you. What's my password(s)? Did I check-in online, and where is my money today? Professionally, everyone is also
doing more. We are asked to do more with less resources or to be more creative in our business relationships. The same is
true in regard to clinical trials conduct, there are more complex protocols, more regulatory requirements, more pressures
to enroll subjects, more technology requirements, and well, just more.
The question in the "new" economy, as well as "old" models of the drug development business, is how to do more with less.
The less not necessarily having to mean less money. The less can be less time or less resources (staff or support teams),
and then, less money. The answer is to "make new friends." Here are some examples:
Recently, I attended CBI's Forum on Clinical Trials Registries and Results Databases in London. This is where I first heard
"Make new friends" applied to our business. The attendees, and those responsible for implementing the FDAAA requirements regarding
the public posting of clinical trials and results, are meeting this challenge by making new friends. They are dealing with
departments they hadn't previously and, specifically, discovering their in-house biostatisticians to be invaluable (see related
news "Closer to Transparency").
A U.S.-based biotech director attendee to the Forum, explained that she has worked exclusively with the company's lawyers
to develop their SOPs regarding the FDAAA results requirements. Making friends with lawyers may not be on everyone's list
of fun things to do, but in this case it is working toward a common goal of complying with the government's move toward transparency.
Another example surfaces in our lead peer-reviewed article in this issue regarding patient organizations and their involvement
in clinical research.
Written by Cees Smit, advisor to the European Genetic Alliances' Network based in the UK, the article outlines the case for
new relationships between the patient organization and biomedical research. He states: "In addition to their better known
role in the informational and psychosocial support area, patient organizations increasingly realize the value of their expertise
for biomedical research."
Basically, we're talking about operating outside the box, or extending your "comfort" zone.
When forging new business friendships within or outside your company, think about what motivates the other party. For example,
how can everyone involved meet their goals or achieve success? Try to understand where the other person is coming from and
what they bring to the table.
In the current business climate, gaining knowledge and making new friends can happen at conferences, webinars, and webcasts,
at the water cooler or on the phone. Hopefully, the economy will change quickly but if it doesn't, you will still have your
new ways of doing business.
Lisa Henderson
Editor-in-Chief
email: lhenderson@advanstar.com
http://www.appliedclinicaltrialsonline.com/
