Article 413: Pharmanet, ICON, Covance Are Top CROs in 2005 CenterWatch Survey of Investigative Sites in U.S.

• Investigative sites in the United States rate Pharmanet the best CRO to work with, just as sites in Europe did last year. ICON has experienced a meteoric rise from last place in the U.S. site survey two years ago to an impressive second- place showing in the latest Thomson CenterWatch Survey of Investigative Sites. Covance and Quintiles continue to garner high regard from sites. Five CROs are showing themselves to be the leaders in site relations, and the rest of the large firms will need to improve so they don't fall behind further.

Article 414: Wyeth, RPS Shift Outsourcing Model

• Faced with an enviable problem of having more than 200 new and ongoing studies and a new compound entering development each month for the next four years, Wyeth wanted a new way to meet its growing regional field operation needs. The sponsor didn’t see the value in paying hourly rates for monitors from $110 to $150, or about $300,000 a year.

Article 415: First Summer School for research Ethics Committees Opens in Denmark

• The Copenhagen Summer School for Research Ethics opens its doors this month.

Article 416: Eye on: Multiple Schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia affects eight million patients worldwide. CenterWatch has identified a pipeline of 14 drugs in development for schizophrenia.