MUNICH, Germany, February 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Driving clinical development and speeding time to market through effective relationship management will be two of the key themes discussed at Pharma IQ's 2nd Annual Global Clinical Outsourcing Forum this May.

A recent survey carried out by Pharma IQ revealed some telling stats about the current market activities; 67% of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies outsource more than HALF of all clinical trials.

However, the risks involved cannot be ignored; with inefficiencies leading to 70% of all trials failing to complete on time, costing manufacturers $1.1m in daily prescription revenues.

Last year, a report by the Association of Clinical Research Organisations (ARCO) into overseas clinical trials found that CROs have taken steps to ensure that both quality and ethical standards are the same in all countries in which they operate, and now a further study is in the pipeline.

FDA Officials have backed up this view by indicating that they would be "tightening regulations for pharmaceutical companies that outsource manufacturing to emerging markets to enhance the safety of products."

This is also highlighted by survey results revealing the perceived biggest obstacles to outsourcing:

1) Establishing CRO accountability 2) Running trials in emerging markets 3) Entering into risk sharing partnerships

For access to these reports and more (completely free of charge) visit the Global Clinical Outsourcing Forum download centre at http://bit.ly/fpKYU5

All of these issues will be discussed in depth by the heads of clinical operations and outsourcing from companies such as Pfizer, Genzyme and Merck Serono at Pharma IQ's 2nd Annual Global Clinical Outsourcing Forum, which will be held from 16th - 18th of May 2011. It will be the largest gathering in Europe of decision makers in the realm of clinical outsourcing.