R&D Comprises an Average of 64% of Preclinical Teams' Internal Clients, Finds New Business Intelligence Study

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - March 07, 2017) - A new study of early-stage product development teams found that, on average, R&D comprises 64% of the internal clients that surveyed preclinical and toxicology teams support.

The study, Early-Stage Product Development: Strengthen R&D Outcomes with Robust Preclinical Structures and Resources, by Cutting Edge Information, emphasizes the connection between R&D objectives and preclinical workloads. Preclinical development marks one of the earlier research and development (R&D) stages -- and is arguably a key determinant of future R&D successes. Among their key responsibilities, preclinical groups at surveyed life sciences companies collect important safety, pharmacology and toxicology data to assess emerging products' viability.

The same Cutting Edge Information study found that R&D structures accounted for a minimum of 25% of surveyed preclinical teams' customer bases. Other preclinical and toxicology groups reported exclusively serving R&D audiences. Likewise, many surveyed preclinical teams concentrate the bulk of their workload in R&D portfolio-based activities.

Typically, surveyed teams allocate 25% to 100% of their time toward fulfilling planned R&D portfolio objectives. Preclinical groups that dedicated a quarter of their workload toward planned R&D objectives -- and even teams for whom planned portfolio objectives reflect the majority of their workload -- may allocate additional time toward addressing unforeseen portfolio needs.

Because preclinical teams are an important component of R&D activities, strong working relationships between preclinical and R&D groups are perhaps expected. "Strategic alignment of preclinical teams with R&D interests can ease the burden of successful investigational products' transition as they move into early clinical stages," said Sarah Ray, senior research analyst at Cutting Edge Information.

Likewise, communicating effectively with R&D -- whether independent of or tied to these structures -- can help preclinical teams maximize their contributions to portfolio development.