The growing involvement of contract research organizations in drug development could result in job shifts.

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Not so long ago, contract-research organizations (CROs) were content to be simple fee-for-service businesses. They would test drugs in

animals, run clinical trials and deal with regulatory issues. Now, as drug companies are looking to cut costs, CROs show signs of taking on more risks and responsibilities — in exchange for

bigger rewards. This trend has implications not just for the financial bottom line of the drug companies, but also for scientists with aspirations to work in drug development. One arm of

Quintiles of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, one of the world's largest CROs with 17,000 employees wordwide, is combining the approach of a traditional service provider with

that of a venture-capital firm. The Quintiles subsidiary NovaQuest will now take on the financial costs of late-stage development, testing and getting approval for a pharmaceutical

partner's drug candidates, with the understanding that NovaQuest will get a return from products that reach the market. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your

institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Learn more Buy this

article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in

* Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Naturejobs editor, Paul Smaglik Authors * Paul Smaglik View

author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Smaglik, P. The growing

involvement of contract research organizations in drug development could result in job shifts.. _Nature_ 445, 225 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7124-225a Download citation * Published:

10 January 2007 * Issue Date: 11 January 2007 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7124-225a SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get

shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative