Global CRO Drives Study Startup Efficiency By Converting Local IRB Sites To Central IRB Review

PRA Health Sciences partnered with Advarra to increase the number of sites relying on central IRB review, streamlining startup and increasing overall study efficiency.

The Challenge

Research sites that rely on a local IRB typically take at least twice as long to activate than sites that can rely on the study’s single central IRB. Utilizing central IRB review not only helps streamline study startup but also enables increased efficiencies in managing sites throughout the study’s lifecycle. PRA Health Sciences, a global contract research organization (CRO), worked with a substantial volume of sites that historically were required to leverage local IRBs for approvals. On average, PRA saw about a 30/70 split of central vs. local IRB review across their study portfolio.

The Ask

PRA wanted to flip the ratio so that more sites could take advantage of the efficiencies, transparency, and time savings enabled by using a central IRB to improve the overall study startup processes and timelines. The PRA team estimated that working with local IRBs cost PRA and its clients substantially more time with less transparency than working with their central IRB partner.

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