• CenterWatch editors look back on a year when industry has been transitioning into a more mature operating climate.

• Investigative sites report that grant revenue is growing by 17% over 1997 levels and that operating profits-including physician compensation-are approximately 11% of net revenue.
• Despite profits and steady growth, investigative sites are under-investing in patient recruitment and staff recruitment. Sites also face significant cash flow problems and declining grant sizes.

• Intercern Clinical Research Networks, a hospital-based SMO in the United Kingdom, has received $5.7 million in funding from a large European venture capital firm, 3i. Intercern's model for enlisting only secondary (hospital)-based investigators is both unique and innovative. The appeal for the hospitals is that Intercern's involvement should increase the hospitals' number of studies and patient enrollment.
• Intercern expects rapid growth of its network within the next several months; the number of hospitals in the network may double during the beginning of 2000. Furthermore, Intercern will expand its network to include hospitals on the continent. This European expansion is planned for mid-2000.

Article 156: Eye-On: Type 2 Diabetes

• Recently, there has been a rapid growth of the number of type 2 diabetes drugs being introduced. CenterWatch has identified 39 of these drugs currently in the clinical pipeline. An estimated $235 million was spent this past year on clinical trials for diabetes therapies. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form of diabetes. Since scientists have found neither an exact cause nor a cure for the disease, research is focused on means of prevention.