Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) and the U.S.-based Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES) have launched a strategic alliance focused on the efficient, safe and ethical conduct of global clinical trials.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two organizations was announced yesterday at the 15th Pharma & Clinical Trials in Canada Summit in Toronto.
The MOU allows the organizations “to work together to address the global challenges facing the conduct of clinical trials and the development of global therapies and health-related research endeavors.”
CTO and ACRES have a common interest in advancing clinical research to improve the development and delivery of medical therapies.
“CTO is delighted to be partnering with ACRES, an influential global organization that works with clinical research organizations around the world,” said Susan Marlin, President and CEO, CTO. “This alliance will allow CTO to engage more globally, ensure our trials are consistent with global standards, and bring more global clinical trials to Ontario. That is what CTO was created to do.”
The two groups will share information and collaborate in areas of mutual interest that may include streamlining global ethical review processes and regulatory innovations, site performance, and patient and public engagement in research.
Improving the environment for research and “recognizing biomedical R&D as an economic development and healthcare public policy priority” are other areas for potential collaboration.
As part of the alliance, CTO will share details of an efficient new ‘streamlined’ approach to research ethics review that was recently introduced in Ontario. For its part, CTO wants to learn about the work ACRES and partners are pursuing to support research sites and engage patients and the public in clinical trials.
Dr. Greg Koski, Co-Founder, President and CEO, ACRES, said this is the first time that ACRES has entered into a strategic alliance with a provincial organization in Canada.
Dr. Koski noted, “With CTO’s demonstrated success in implementing programs that ensure efficient, high-quality, ethical clinical trials, we are delighted to welcome them as a strategic partner for ACRES in Canada. CTO, itself a multi-stakeholder alliance, aligns perfectly with ACRES’ mission to bring together organizations, companies and individuals from all facets of the clinical research sector to work together to build a shared global system for safe, high-performance, clinical research. Ontario is a leading jurisdiction for conducting clinical trials in Canada which helps to further ACRES efforts to build broad international participation in building an integrated clinical research system.”
CTO and ACRES are willing to collaborate on projects that will involve multiple stakeholders, including academia, industry, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.
“What makes this a perfect partnership is that CTO’s mandate really aligns with ACRES’ vision, focusing on improving the research environment in Ontario, making it more efficient, while ensuring the highest ethical standards and patient-public engagement,” said Ms. Marlin.