Factors influencing clinical trial site selection in Europe: the survey of attitudes towards trial sites in Europe (the SAT-EU StudyTM)

Objectives: Applications to run clinical trials in Europe fell 25% between 2007 and 2011. Costs, speed of approvals, and shortcomings of European Clinical Trial Directive are commonly invoked to explain this unsatisfactory performance. However, no hard evidence is available on the actual weight of these factors, nor has it been previously investigated whether other criteria may also impact clinical trial site selection. Design: The SAT-EU StudyTM was an anonymous, cross-sectional Web-based survey that systematically assessed factors impacting European clinical trial site selection. It explored 19 factors across investigator-, hospital-, and environment-driven criteria, and costs. It also surveyed perceptions of the European trial environment. Setting and Participants: Clinical Research Organizations (CROs), academic Clinical Trial Units (CTUs), and Industry invited to respond. Interventions: None Outcome Measures: Primary: Weight assigned to each factor hypothesized to impact trial site...