Sponsors are the fundamental drivers of clinical research. My own experience with them is primarily dealing with commercial drug development organizations, such as pharma and biotech companies, or medical device developers.

Outside of these, some trials are sponsored by government agencies – such as the NHS in the UK – hospitals or academic institutions, charities, patient groups, even sometimes physicians who set up what’s known as Investigator-Initiated Trials.

Sponsors are especially interested in having an effective and efficient patient recruitment process in place. If the trial can’t recruit enough patients, and have them stay on the trial to completion, the sponsor can’t submit their treatment for approval and ultimately start generating revenue from it.

The level of funding required for a trial can make it a very expensive operation to be involved with, so sponsors are always keen to get the maximum return from their investment.