Pharmaceutical and medical device companies face serious business challenges in conducting clinical research. The importance of data from clinical trials for obtaining FDA product approval is obvious. What may not be as immediately obvious is that the number of qualified research sites and competent investigators is limited. From a market standpoint, this situation involves buyers needing a highly specialized service and a limited pool of potential suppliers. That means, since we are not talking about a readily available commodity, pricing is going to be more value-based than cost based. As health care providers deal with their own budget concerns, organizations and physicians conducting clinical research will be under pressure to ensure the
adequacy of their fees.