SCRS Announces Novartis and Quintiles as Winners of the 2013 Eagle Awards

-- More than 1,000 investigative sites select the top sponsor and CRO

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, Oct. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), the trade organization representing global clinical research sites, is pleased to announce the winners of the prestigious 2013 SCRS Eagle Awards.  Novartis is this year's winning sponsor and Quintiles is the winning contract research organization (CRO).  

The Eagle Awards were presented last night at the 8th annual SCRS-sponsored Site Solutions Summit (Summit) Eagle Award Gala and Dinner, which was held at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort on Amelia Island, Florida.  Eugene Patin, Head of US Clinical Operations for Novartis, and Lindy Jones, Senior Vice President Integrated Site Services for Quintiles, were called onstage before a crowd of over 500 industry stakeholders to accept the awards for their respective companies.  The Eagle Award recognizes outstanding leadership, professionalism, integrity, passion and dedication to advancing the clinical research profession through strong site partnerships.

From Novartis
"Novartis is honored to receive the distinguished 2013 Eagle award from SCRS and its esteemed 1000-strong global membership," says Tim Wright, M.D., Global Head of Development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "We view this recognition as further support that our unique approach to clinical trial innovation – encompassing robust collaboration with clinical trial sites – is making an appreciable difference in the drive to deliver important new medicines to patients in need."

From Quintiles
"Quintiles is thrilled to receive the Eagle Award, which recognizes that we understand and are dedicated to working closely with all of our investigative sites.  Over the past several years, we have made a concerted effort to strengthen our relationships with sites, so we are especially pleased because we were chosen by the sites themselves," says Ms. Jones of Quintiles. 

To select this year's nominees, investigative sites registering for the Summit were asked to nominate the sponsors and CROs they believe best exhibit strong partnership commitment.  Some of the criteria for selection included availability of qualified staff to support the sites, willingness to collaborate, protocol design and execution, financial consideration, and partnering with sites for future work.  Finalists were those sponsors and CROs that ranked in the 75th percentile or greater of nominations received.  Once the finalists were identified, voting was open to all sites globally.  

"We are delighted to present the Eagle Award to Novartis, the 2013 sponsor of site's choice; and to Quintiles, the CRO of site's choice.  The recipients reflect the honest opinion of more than 1,000 investigative sites across the globe.  Their integrity and demonstrating consistently their keen interest in partnering with sites landed these two companies with this prestigious recognition," says Christine Pierre, President of SCRS.

Of the participating sites, 60% were from North America, 23% from Europe, 7% from South America, 3% from Asia-Pacific, 3% from Sub Saharan Africa, and 4% from "other".  Those who participated in the survey were mostly investigators (35%), site directors (31%), and study coordinators (21%).

The Site Solutions Summit took place October 11 – 13, 2013.  Next year's Site Solutions Summit will be held in Amelia Island, October 10 – 12, 2014.  For further information, visit www.sitesolutionssummit.com.

About SCRS
SCRS is a trade organization representing global clinical research sites representing sites in 22 countries. SCRS' mission is to unify and amplify the voice of the global clinical research site community. SCRS has become an active partner in industry-wide dialogues focused on improving the clinical research enterprise among the many industry initiatives. Sites, as well as companies that sponsor or support the work conducted at the clinical research sites, will benefit from membership. Visit www.myscrs.org.

About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2012, the Group achieved net sales of $56.7 billion. Novartis Group companies employ approximately 131,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries. Visit www.novartis.com.

About Quintiles
Quintiles is the world's largest provider of biopharmaceutical development and commercial outsourcing services with a network of more than 27,000 employees conducting business in approximately 100 countries. The company has helped develop or commercialize all of the top-50 best-selling drugs on the market. Quintiles applies the breadth and depth of its service offerings along with extensive therapeutic, scientific and analytics expertise to help its customers navigate an increasingly complex healthcare environment as they seek to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of better healthcare outcomes.  Visit www.quintiles.com.