Patterns in Prescribing Behavior: The Potential Hidden Costs of Using CROs

Given the important role of contract research organizations (CROs) in conducting market support clinical trials, this analysis sought to answer the question of whether clinical investigators who participate in CRO-run market support studies subsequently prescribe the study drug differently than investigators in studies directly managed by sponsor companies. The phase 3b sample of investigator cases consisted of 679 randomly drawn clinical study sites, totaling 450 unique physicians. An additional 488 unique physicians, who had been involved as principle investigators at 534 phase 4 clinical trials sites, were randomly selected. Approximately 75% of the investigators came from sponsor company-run clinical trials, with the remaining 25% from CRO-run clinical trials. An analysis of covariance indicates that investigators in sponsor company-run clinical trials subsequently prescribe significantly more of the study drug, particularly in phase 3b trials.