Clinical trial feasibility and site selection vendors: how the six types compare
Feasibility and site selection vendors fall into six types. They differ in the data underneath, in who does the analysis and in whether each answer comes with its reasons. Here is how they compare, and what fits a mid-size CRO or a biotech sponsor.
- Six types of vendor sell feasibility and site selection help.
- The biggest difference is whether patients are counted or inferred.
- The next is who does the work: your team, or the vendor’s.
- Mid-size CROs need an answer in days, with a reason behind every site.
- Check that a vendor’s figures hold up before a sponsor checks them for you.
The marketThe six types of vendor
Search for a feasibility or site selection vendor and the results mix very different businesses. Sorted by what you actually get, they fall into six types.
| Type | What you get | Data underneath | Who does the work |
|---|---|---|---|
| Site and investigator databases | Searchable profiles of sites and investigators, usually by subscription | Trial registries, publications and curated records | Your team |
| Trial intelligence platforms | Data on past and active trials, usually by subscription | Trial registries and published sources | Your team |
| Real-world data licensors and cohort tools | Patient data, or a tool to query it | Real-world data such as health records and claims | Your analysts |
| Feasibility consultancies | A recommendation from independent experts | The consultancy’s own and licensed sources | The consultancy |
| CRO in-house feasibility | The CRO’s own assessment | Site questionnaires, past experience and subscriptions | The CRO’s feasibility team |
| Full-service data companies | The data and the answer: counted patients, ranked sites and named investigators for each protocol | Patient-level real-world data plus verified site and investigator records | The provider’s team |
Many teams use more than one. A CRO might keep a site database for everyday work and bring in a full-service provider when a bid or a protocol decision is due.
The real differenceCounted or inferred?
Most feasibility numbers are inferred: worked out from how common a disease is, from how many trials a site has run, or from what sites say in a questionnaire. Inferred numbers look precise and are often far too high, because they never test the protocol’s criteria against real patients. Counted numbers come from checking each criterion against real-world data, patient by patient. Ask every vendor which one you are getting. More in how many patients qualify for a trial.
For mid-size CROsWhat to weigh most
- Who does the analysis. If the answer is “your team”, budget the analyst time as well as the subscription.
- Time to a first answer. An RFP response runs on days. A tool that needs onboarding, or a survey that waits on site replies, can miss the window.
- A reason behind every site. In a bid defense the sponsor asks why each site is on the list. You need an answer you can repeat.
- Figures that hold up. Check that a vendor’s headline figures agree from one page or report to the next. If they do not, a sponsor may notice before you do.
- Built for your size. Many platforms are designed around the largest CROs and sponsors. Ask how the vendor works with a team of your size.
For biotech sponsorsStart with the protocol
For a biotech sponsor the first question is not which sites, but whether the protocol can enroll at all. Count how many patients would qualify under the draft criteria before the protocol is final, and see which criteria remove the most. That answer shapes the protocol, the budget and the conversation with your CRO. See the Protocol Stress Test.
Before you signQuestions to ask any vendor
- Are patients counted against our protocol’s criteria, or inferred from totals?
- Is the data patient-level, and does it follow patients over time?
- How are site and investigator records verified, and how often are they refreshed?
- Do we get data to work through, or the finished answer?
- Does every site on the list come with a reason we can repeat to a sponsor?
- How long until we have a first answer?
The full checklist is in how to choose a real-world data partner, and the terms are defined in the clinical trial data glossary.
Feasibility and site selection vendors, answered
What types of clinical trial feasibility and site selection vendors are there?
There are six main types: site and investigator databases, trial intelligence platforms, real-world data licensors and cohort tools, feasibility consultancies, a CRO’s own in-house feasibility team, and full-service data companies such as Quantum Research Cloud, which supply both the data and the answer for each protocol.
What should a mid-size CRO look for in a site selection vendor?
An answer rather than raw data, a first result in days so it fits the RFP clock, a reason behind every site that can be repeated in a bid defense, counts against the protocol’s criteria rather than disease totals, and figures that hold up when a sponsor checks them.
Do site selection vendors use real-world data?
Some do and many do not. Many site selection tools rely on trial registries, publications and site surveys, which show where trials have run before. Real-world data adds where qualifying patients are actually treated today, which is what decides whether a site can enroll.
How long does clinical trial feasibility take?
It depends on the approach. Survey-based feasibility usually takes weeks because it waits on site replies. A full-service data company such as Quantum Research Cloud works from data it already has in place and returns counted patients and a ranked, explained site list in days.
What is the difference between a site database and a full-service data company?
A site database gives your team searchable profiles of sites and investigators to work through. A full-service data company combines patient-level data with verified site and investigator records, and its team delivers the ranked shortlist for your protocol with the reasoning behind each site.