Resistance to change impacts e-clinical trials tech uptake

There has been a paradigm shift in the drug discovery industry in recent years, with computing power and informatics becoming an integral part of the discovery and development process, says a report from Frost & Sullivan. With life science and pharmaceutical companies showing a definite inclination towards electronic technologies and investing substantial amounts in transitioning from paper-based to electronic processes, revenues in the eClinical trials (eCT) market are expected to increase from approximately $210.0 million in 2004 to $357.4 million in 2011, it adds.

However, the adoption of eClinical technologies currently remains largely confined to pilot projects, barring a few implementations by some major drugmakers. The adoption of these technologies is dependent on the ability of the senior management in an organization to take the electronic revolution to the grassroots level.

"In eCT, it is the human element of resistance to change that is the greatest challenge rather than the technology itself," comments F&S research analyst Raghavendra Chitta, adding: "this is why the majority of adoption, thus far, has been in the form of small pilot projects."