CROs as "Change-Makers" in the Pharma Ecosystem

Contract Research Organizations (CROs) have historically been sleepy fee-for-service partners for the drug industry, widely disregarded as not innovative, and their scientists certainly not treated with the same professional respect as their counterparts in Pharma R&D. But this is clearly changing: CROs are now stepping up as important change-makers in the life science ecosystem and are helping drive the “Pharma R&D makeover”. I was reading JPM analyst Tycho Peterson’s recent report on CROs after the Society of Toxicology meeting, and he highlights a number of interesting points.