- David Jones
- Jan 14
- 5 min read
COG: CRO Summit 2025 Meeting Review
The Clinical Outsourcing Group (COG) returned to Research Triangle Park for its annual CRO Summit on December 2-3, 2025, bringing together over 250 clinical researchers at the Embassy Suites by Hilton. The two-day event delivered a comprehensive exploration of the strategic, operational, and technological challenges shaping the CRO landscape, with presentations from industry leaders representing organisations ranging from specialised boutique CROs to global clinical research enterprises.
Strategic Foundations and Operational Excellence
The summit opened with a powerful keynote from Claudia Christian (CCO, FHI Clinical) on strategic alliances between small- to mid-size CROs. Claudia's presentation challenged the traditional competitive mindset, demonstrating how complementary partnerships can secure sophisticated trials beyond any single organization's reach. Her framework for joint bid strategies, unified defense meetings, and technology synchronization provided actionable insights for CROs seeking to expand their capabilities without compromising their specialized strengths.
Catherine Tyner (Head of Clinical Strategy, Judi by AG Mednet) followed with a timely discussion on protocol compliance in light of the FDA's December 2024 draft guidance on protocol deviations. Her presentation on centralized eligibility review processes and technology-driven workflows resonated strongly with attendees facing increased regulatory scrutiny. The case study data demonstrating how organizations achieve enrollment milestones while maintaining exceptional compliance standards provided concrete evidence that quality and speed need not be mutually exclusive.
Trish Landry (SVP Clinical Operations, Beaufort CRO) brought a refreshing focus to the often-overlooked world of IVD clinical investigations. Her insights into laboratory-centric trial management, specimen handling protocols, and the unique collaborative dynamics required with diagnostic facilities filled a significant knowledge gap for many attendees. The discussion highlighted how specialized expertise in niche areas can become a powerful differentiator in an increasingly commoditized market.
Vendor Integration
The vendor integration section featured Mary Carson (Senior Director, Vendor Management, Catalyst Clinical Research) delivering practical frameworks for building robust vendor management systems. Her emphasis on Business Vendor Owner (BVO) roles and cross-functional strategy committees resonated with organizations struggling to move beyond transactional vendor relationships.
Jody Mehl (Director, Solutions Architecture & Strategic Partnerships, Mednet) complemented this discussion by demonstrating how integrated eClinical technologies can simplify site workflows and reduce administrative burdens.
Dr. Jasmina Jankicevic (CMO, Indero), serving as both chair and presenter, provided valuable insights into clinical development acceleration strategies. Her 20+ years of experience informed a discussion on innovative protocol designs and optimized collaboration models that compress timelines without compromising scientific rigor—a critical balance in today's competitive landscape.
Resource Optimization
The afternoon sessions on resource optimization brought financial realities into sharp focus. Paul Johnson (Executive Director, Strategy Development, PharPoint Research) presented sobering projections for CRO financial planning, exploring how shifting sponsor demands and technology investments impact profitability.
Quan Doan (VP Technology Solutions, SDC) followed with a compelling case for AI as a competitive differentiator, moving beyond buzzwords to demonstrate how validated AI systems can drive measurable operational advantages.
Sandy Robbins (VP Commercial Operations, MMS) delivered perhaps the day's most provocative presentation, challenging the procurement-driven contracting models that have come to dominate CRO-sponsor relationships. Her discussion of value-based pricing and outcome-linked incentives sparked significant debate during the panel session, with many acknowledging the psychological barriers within large organizations that perpetuate inefficient practices.
People Development
Day 1 concluded with a focus on people development. Gary Zammit (CEO, Clinilabs) shared strategies for building elite teams in a competitive talent landscape, while Kyle Gillette (Senior Solutions Engineer, M-Files) demonstrated how AI-native document management systems can transform clinical operations today while laying groundwork for AI-driven innovation tomorrow.
Charlene Dark (COO, Avania) rounded out the section with practical insights into talent development, retention, and career advancement pathways—critical considerations for people-centric CRO businesses.
Industry Trends and Technological Transformation
The second day opened with a dynamic C-suite panel exploring industry predictions for 2026. Sybil Wilson (VP Global Commercial Operations, Veristat) expertly chaired a discussion featuring CEOs and founders from Cardiovascular Clinical Sciences, Lexitas Pharma Services, Kapadi, and HiRO. The panel examined how geopolitical factors, regulatory shifts, and emerging technologies will reshape operational models and competitive positioning throughout the coming year.
Damian Colehan (Regional VP Sales, H1) delivered a data-driven presentation on leveraging comprehensive clinical data and analytics to accelerate trial success. His case studies demonstrating 50% faster recruitment and improved bid success rates provided compelling evidence that traditional feasibility approaches no longer provide adequate competitive advantage. The presentation sparked considerable interest in how CROs can better demonstrate their value proposition during the bidding process.
John Mann (SVP North American Operations, Avance Clinical) offered valuable insights into Australia's research potential, presenting the country as a "Pacific Research Powerhouse" with distinct advantages beyond its regulatory incentives. His discussion of the "Global Ready" approach—enabling rapid Phase I work without IND, concurrent IND preparation, and seamless transition to US sites—resonated with sponsors seeking efficient early-phase execution. The comparison with Asian markets provided important context for strategic site selection decisions.
Technology Disruption
The technology disruption section featured a panel discussion on digital transformation that moved beyond automation to explore intelligent insights and advanced analytics. Dan Ballard (SVP Digital, Parexel), Earl Seltzer (Executive Director, Strategy & Innovation, CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services), and Kirk Wroblewski (CIO, ProPharma) shared experiences implementing "digital workers" across diverse business functions, discussing the progression from basic automation to hyper-automation while addressing regulatory considerations and strategic frameworks.
Andrea Bastek (VP Market Strategy, Florence Healthcare) demonstrated how enablement technology can optimize site performance, presenting solutions to the $1 million per study inefficiency problem caused by fragmented communication and inconsistent processes. Her data on document cycle time reductions and inspection pass rates provided tangible evidence of technology's impact on operational outcomes.
David Pomfret (VP US Clinical Operations, Mobius Medical) concluded the technology discussions with a balanced perspective on AI adoption, exploring both opportunities and implementation challenges. His emphasis on organizational readiness, change management, and human-AI collaboration models provided important context for organizations navigating the AI frontier.
Effective Operations
The summit's final section addressed effective operations, with Megan Liles (VP Clinical Delivery, HGI Clinical) presenting tailored approaches for supporting emerging biotech sponsors. Her insights into flexible payment structures, milestone-aligned invoicing, and educational partnership models highlighted how CROs can create specialized solutions for innovators with distinct resource constraints and regulatory pressures.
Key Takeaways
The 2025 COG: CRO Summit demonstrated the industry's continued evolution from transactional service delivery toward strategic partnership models. Several themes emerged consistently across presentations:
Collaboration Over Competition: Multiple speakers emphasized that the future belongs to CROs that can effectively partner—both with other CROs and with their sponsor clients—rather than those that maintain rigid competitive stances.
Technology as Enabler, Not Solution: While AI and automation featured prominently, the most impactful discussions focused on how technology enables better human decision-making rather than replacing human judgment entirely.
Specialized Expertise as Differentiator: From IVD studies to emerging biotech support, presentations consistently demonstrated that deep expertise in specialized areas provides more sustainable competitive advantage than broad generalist capabilities.
Value Beyond Price: The industry continues to grapple with procurement-driven contracting, but increasing recognition that lowest price rarely delivers best value suggests momentum toward more sophisticated compensation models.
People Remain Central: Despite technological advances, the summit reinforced that clinical research remains fundamentally a people business, with talent development and retention critical to long-term success.
A Senior Audience Driving Global Clinical Excellence
COG: CRO Summit 2025 welcomed a senior highly engaged audience composed of C-suite industry leaders (20%), VP’s Director’s and Heads of Departments (49%) and senior management (31%). Featuring strong participation from both emerging and specialist CROs and established global organisations.
Furthermore, we are pleased to confirm CRO attendees made up 66% of the total audience, meeting PBC Group's aim to maintain 2:1 ratio onsite.
COG: CRO Summit brings together International leaders from Contract Research Organizations and functional service providers in the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle to advance operational excellence and innovation in clinical trial delivery.
This premier two-day gathering delivers actionable insights on emerging technologies, strategic collaboration, and the evolving landscape of the global CRO industry.
Find Our More Here: https://www.thepbcgroup.com/crosummit
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