Three quarters of clinical trial managers report challenges loading data into their EDC systems, which in turn increases the time it takes to build study databases and then delays trials.
Eighty-three percent of life sciences organizations release a clinical database after the first patient, first visit. It takes an average of 68 days to build and release a clinical study database, which contributes to an increase of nearly a month downstream in the completion of a trial.

Cybersecurity: Lessons learned in a hacker’s era

Cybersecurity is back in the public eye, with multiple incidents of malware attacks across the globe. Merck recently suffered an attack that disrupted the company’s manufacturing capabilities. Citing concerns about the drug supply, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has asked Merck for an update by this week. The potential for cybersecurity intrusions also touches the medical device industry. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICS-CERT issued an advisory identifying eight cyber security vulnerabilities in an infusion pump from Smiths Medical. Previously, the FDA issued safety communications regarding vulnerabilities found in certain St. Jude Medical/Abbott cardiac pacemakers and Hospira infusion pumps.

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