How much do clinical trials cost? (original) (raw)

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 16, pages 381–382 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Despite a clear need to understand the costs of drug development and the factors responsible, there has been a surprising gap in the data relating to how much it actually costs to conduct clinical trials. Without reliable benchmarks, it is difficult for companies to identify the key pain points in their processes and then chart a path towards improvement. In addition, lack of information makes forecasting and planning budgets more challenging, particularly when embarking on new development paths or running trials in areas in which a company has limited experience.

With the aim of providing companies with a comparative baseline for how much clinical trials cost, KMR Group conducted the landmark Clinical Trial Cost Study in 2016. This assessment provided reliable cross-industry cost data to senior management at major biopharma companies, so that they could evaluate their operational efficiency and make more accurate financial projections, as well as more effectively evaluate the cost burden of licensing and asset acquisition. Here, we present some of the key findings of this analysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

$29.99 / 30 days

cancel any time

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 12 print issues and online access

$209.00 per year

only $17.42 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. KMR Group, 150 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 1070, Chicago, 60606, Illinois, USA
    Linda Martin, Melissa Hutchens, Conrad Hawkins & Alaina Radnov

Authors

  1. Linda Martin
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  2. Melissa Hutchens
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  3. Conrad Hawkins
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
  4. Alaina Radnov
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence toLinda Martin.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors of this article are employees of KMR group, a leading management consultancy that focuses on benchmarking, analytics and performance management for biopharmaceutical companies.

Supplementary information

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martin, L., Hutchens, M., Hawkins, C. et al. How much do clinical trials cost?.Nat Rev Drug Discov 16, 381–382 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2017.70

Download citation

This article is cited by