Singin' the CRO Blues

Executive Summary

The big three CROs--Quintiles, Parexel, & Covance have suffered contract cancellations, less-than-glowing earnings reports, and diving stock prices over the last 12 months. But, while the near-term continues to look fairly bleak, there's cause for hope on the horizon. CROs are increasingly seen as strategic partners, rather than as a means of handling overflow. And there's likely to be major opportunities for companies offering specialized services. One particularly promising area involves using the Internet to streamline R&D--for example, web-enabled clinical trials.