1.
For
Immediate
Release
Media
Contact:
General
Information:
Brittany
Hutt
Caryn
Laermer
Social
Surge
Interactive
Senior
Manager,
Quality
Consortium
Brit@socialsurgeinteractive.com
caryn.laermer@theavocagroup.com
610-­‐212-­‐1230
609-­‐799-­‐0511
Avoca
Quality
Consortium
Announces
2013
Key
Initiatives
Eli
Lilly
&
Co.
and
Pfizer,
Inc.
continue
as
lead
Consortium
sponsors
PRINCETON,
NJ
(January
23,
2013)
–
The
Avoca
Group,
an
industry-­‐leading
consulting
and
research
organization
specializing
in
clinical
outsourcing
and
alliance
management,
announced
today
the
Avoca
Quality
Consortium’s
2013
key
initiatives.
Building
upon
a
successful
launch
year,
the
Avoca
Quality
Consortium
will
implement
additional
initiatives
aimed
at
further
enabling
members
to
optimize
approaches
for
proactive
quality
management
of
outsourced
clinical
trials.
Formed
in
January
of
2012
with
29
members,
The
Avoca
Quality
Consortium
brings
together
executives
from
pharma,
biotech,
and
clinical
research
organizations
(CROs)
to
accelerate
the
development
of
best
practice
approaches
to
quality
management.
Over
the
past
year,
the
Consortium
successfully
completed
the
creation
of
a
Clinical
Quality
Agreement
template
and
a
Quality
Metrics
initiative.
“Our
overarching
goal
is
to
help
our
diverse
members
strike
the
right
balance
between
meeting
timelines,
ensuring
cost
containment
and
achieving
the
highest
level
of
quality
in
their
clinical
trials,”
explained
Patricia
Leuchten,
President
and
CEO
of
Avoca.
“We
made
tremendous
progress
during
our
first
year
and
are
now
poised
to
expand
the
scope
of
this
critically
important
work.”
For
2013,
the
Quality
Consortium
will
conduct
a
consortium-­‐wide
research
assessment
focused
on
managing
risk
in
outsourced
clinical
trials.
This
will
include
an
assessment
of
Consortium
members’
approaches
to
managing
risk
compared
to
the
overall
industry’s
approach.
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2. “At
a
time
of
increasing
regulatory
expectations,
industry
collaboration
to
raise
the
bar
on
quality
in
critical
trials
is
more
important
than
ever,
“said
Jeff
Kasher,
Ph.D.,
Vice
President,
Clinical
Trial:
Materials,
Implementation,
and
Transformation,
Eli
Lilly
Co.
“Our
first
year
work
produced
very
practical
tools,
which
many
members
have
already
put
into
use.
Our
2013
focus
on
guidelines
and
tools
for
effective
oversight
will
continue
in
the
same
spirit:
research
that
leads
to
useable
tools
to
support
proactive
quality
management.”
Research
and
work
on
leading
practices
in
proactive
quality
management
serve
as
the
two
pillars
of
the
Avoca
Quality
Consortium.
Members
of
the
Avoca
Quality
Consortium
will
receive
2013
guidelines
and
tools
focused
on
effective
oversight,
revisions
and
refinements
to
its
quality
agreement
and
metrics
tools,
Avoca
research
reports,
participation
in
the
May
Summit
and
Fall
Working
Sessions,
participation
in
regular
WebEx
Meetings
and
updates
on
work
related
to
avenues
for
operationalizing
approaches
to
proactive
quality
management.
Eli
Lilly
&
Company
and
Pfizer,
Inc.
are
founding
corporate
sponsors
and
will
continue
in
that
role
during
2013.
Jeff
Kasher
and
John
Hubbard,
Ph.D.,
FCP,
Senior
Vice
President
and
Worldwide
Head
Development
Operations,
Pfizer,
Inc.
will
co-­‐chair
the
Consortium’s
Annual
Summit
set
for
May
8&9
in
Princeton,
NJ.
For
more
information
about
the
Avoca
Quality
Consortium,
or
to
inquire
about
membership,
please
contact
caryn.laermer@theavocagroup.com
at
(609)
799-­‐0511,
or
visit
the
The
Avoca
Quality
Consortium.
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