WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG), a provider of regulatory and ethical review services and software to support clinical research, and the Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium (PCCTC), a multicenter clinical research organization specializing in cutting-edge prostate cancer research, have formed a new partnership to enhance the quality and efficiency of the consortium’s research review process.

PCCTC joins the nation’s most prominent cancer research institutions in relying on WCG for the review of its cancer research protocols and related study documents. WCG Oncology, WCG’s cancer-focused division, is comprised of experts who specialize in oncological sub-specialties and advise Princeton, N.J.-based WCG’s three cancer-focused institutional review board (IRB) panels on the science behind cutting-edge therapies. With a deep understanding of the underlying science and clinical aspects of associated therapies, the panels provide a highly informed, thorough review of new approaches and proposed research in oncology.

“We are delighted to provide PCCTC with the confidence that its research will be reviewed with the appropriate expertise and therapeutic focus, and in a timely and efficient manner. The consortium is doing sterling work in exploring cutting-edge science, and we are proud to facilitate the conduct of its important clinical research,” said WCG Chairman and CEO Donald Deieso, Ph.D.

PCCTC is a clinical research organization comprised of leading physicians specializing in prostate cancer research at 15 academic institutions across the U.S. Its goal is to streamline and accelerate the activation, accrual and completion of multicenter clinical trials researching prostate cancer while ensuring a consistent, compliant process that protects the wellbeing of its research volunteers. It is an independent subsidiary of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the world’s oldest and largest private cancer center and one of 69 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers, with state-of-the-art science flourishing side by side with clinical studies and treatment.

The partnership with WCG represents a significant change for PCCTC, which previously relied on its members’ local IRBs. That approach had resulted in several IRBs being required to approve the protocol, participant consent and other documents for a single study, leading to inconsistencies and unnecessary delays.

“The PCCTC is excited to collaborate with WCG to provide a more efficient and more thorough model for reviewing prostate cancer research,” said PCCTC CEO Jake Vinson. “We have conducted our first clinical study using WCG, and have already gained efficiencies by reducing administrative delays and eliminating the redundancy of multiple, uncoordinated reviews.”