ABSTRACT
Over the last twenty years the contract research organization (CRO) industry has expanded from an entrepreneurial, almost cottage industry that served the unforeseen capacity shortfalls of the pharmaceutical industry, to an industry that generates more than $6 billion annually in the drug development area alone. Upward of 20 percent of all drug development budgets are spent on a wide range of suppliers from Quintiles (a company with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion per year) to small, local CROs offering specialized local services.
