The Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), a trade organization representing global clinical research sites, has announced the winners of its 2013 SCRS Eagle Awards. Novartis is this year's winning sponsor; Quintiles is the winning CRO.

The Eagle Awards were presented at the 8th annual SCRS-sponsored Site Solutions Summit Eagle Award Gala and Dinner, held at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort on Amelia Island, Florida. Eugene Patin, head of U.S. clinical operations for Novartis, and Lindy Jones, senior vice president integrated site services for Quintiles, accepted the awards for their respective companies.

The Eagle Award recognizes outstanding leadership, professionalism, integrity, passion and dedication to advancing the clinical research profession through strong site partnerships.

"We view this recognition as further support that our unique approach to clinical trial innovation—encompassing robust collaboration with clinical trial sites—is making an appreciable difference in the drive to deliver important new medicines to patients in need," said Tim Wright, M.D., global head of development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

"Quintiles is thrilled to receive the Eagle Award, which recognizes that we understand and are dedicated to working closely with all of our investigative sites," said Jones. "Over the past several years, we have made a concerted effort to strengthen our relationships with sites, so we are especially pleased because we were chosen by the sites themselves."

To select this year's nominees, investigative sites registering for the Summit were asked to nominate the sponsors and CROs they believed best exhibit strong partnership commitment. Some of the criteria for selection included availability of qualified staff to support the sites, willingness to collaborate, protocol design and execution, financial consideration and partnering with sites for future work.  Finalists were those sponsors and CROs that ranked in the 75th percentile or greater of nominations received. Once the finalists were identified, voting was open to all sites globally.

"The recipients reflect the honest opinion of more than 1,000 investigative sites across the globe. Their integrity and demonstrating consistently their keen interest in partnering with sites landed these two companies with this prestigious recognition," said Christine Pierre, president of SCRS.

Of the participating sites, 60% were from North America, 23% from Europe, 7% from South America, 3% from Asia-Pacific and 3% from Sub Saharan Africa. Those who participated in the survey were mostly investigators (35%), site directors (31%) and study coordinators (21%).