Global CRO Quintiles has named Hospital Italiano of Buenos Aires, Argentina, as its first Prime Site in Latin America.

Quintiles said the institution complements its network of investigative sites across the globe. A Prime Site is a large clinical institution selected by Quintiles, with which it works to enhance the institution’s infrastructure for conducting clinical trials. Quintiles and its Prime Sites work together to create a more efficient clinical trial process by recruiting, enrolling and retaining more patients through the course of a clinical trial.

The agreement with Hospital Italiano is designed to involve more patients in clinical trials than previously has been possible in one location in Latin America, increasing patient access to medications. Ultimately, this agreement will help accelerate the collection of critical data about the safety and efficacy of investigational therapies. 

“According to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, timelines are typically extended to nearly double their original duration to meet desired patient enrolment levels across all therapeutic areas—delays that can increase costs, deplete resources and prolong the time it takes for drugs to get to patients in need,” said Jeanne Hecht, senior vice president of site and patient networks at Quintiles. “Quintiles recognizes these challenges and is dedicated to working together differently across the healthcare system to transform drug development and achieve better patient outcomes.”

The new Prime Site at Hospital Italiano has dedicated research facilities, full-time study coordinators, a local College of American Pathologists (CAP)-accredited laboratory and full-service pharmacy. To date, Hospital Italiano has conducted more than 60 trials in 12 different therapeutic areas with Quintiles—comparable to other Quintiles Prime Sites—and has delivered the required patients for a variety of complex trials for the CRO.

“Hospital Italiano is founded upon three core tenets: healthcare, education and research,” said Dr. Ventura Simonovich, clinical operations coordinator at Hospital Italiano.

Key to the success of the Prime Site program, said Quintiles, are its efforts to harmonize operational processes, drive efficiencies in site startup and build better relationships with site staff, which, in turn, supports patient recruitment.

As increasingly complex clinical trials pose more barriers for effective patient recruitment, Quintiles is combining the power of the digitally-connected patient with its scientific and therapeutic expertise to connect the right patients with the right sites at the right time. For instance, the company is developing pre-profiled patient networks and leveraging Electronic Health Record data analytics representing more than 61 million patient lives to provide pre-qualified patient referrals to sites for specific studies. In addition, Quintiles hosts a series of online communities with more than 3.5 million registered users that provide the company with unique insights to enhance its patient recruitment strategies.