The producers of IIR's Partnerships in Clinical Trials recently interviewed Patricia Leuchten, President and CEO of The Avoca Group. They created a four-part series of podcasts called "Inside Outsourcing: Spotlight on Clinical Trial Partnerships." This series explores the many challenges sponsors and CROs face in outsourcing.

In the first segment, Ms. Leuchten shares details from the 2010 Avoca Report, which revealed 'disconnects' between CROs' perceptions of what's important in relationship management and what sponsors actually expect of CROs. In addition, Patty discusses an ongoing trend: not only are big Pharmaceutical companies consolidating their spend with preferred providers, but they are also investing in the quality of their relationships with their current CROs and they're expecting CROs to do the same.

In the second segment, Ms. Leuchten discusses what sponsors are looking for in preferred provider relationships, and what promotes strong and productive partnerships.

In the third segment, Key Performance Indicators, Key Relationship Indicators, and the increasing importance of relationship measurement are explored.

In the fourth and final segment, predictors of future partnering success are discussed.