As in any industry, organizational size is typically an asset in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Bigger companies typically enjoy economies of scale, learn valuable lessons before their competitors have the chance, and benefit from considerable market power.
But what about when it comes to clinical investigations? The number of active investigators working across the US has remained steady throughout recent years. So, does that mean businesses who’ve held onto their places at the top of the industry have developed relationships with the best clinical partners?
In short, not necessarily.
A closer look at Sunshine Score data in the Open Payments database shows that pharmaceutical companies of all sizes are about equally likely to attract top investigators. Sunshine Scores measure an investigator’s success in enrolling patients for clinical studies compared to the total investigator population.
When company size is defined in terms of how much an organization spends on clinical investigations, the data shows that all companies tend to work with investigators of comparable quality. In fact, mean Sunshine Scores were slightly higher on average for investigators who partnered with smaller companies.
| Company Size (measured by payments) | Mean Sunshine Score |
| Largest 10 companies | 51 |
| 11th – 25th Largest companies | 53 |
| All others | 54 |
When company size is defined in terms of how much an organization spends on clinical investigations, the data shows that all companies tend to work with investigators of comparable quality. In fact, mean Sunshine Scores were slightly higher on average for investigators who partnered with smaller companies.
SunshineMD can help organizations of all sizes learn more about the clinical experience and enrollment performance of every investigator in the country without having to navigate Open Payments on their own. Want to learn more? Send a message to hello@sunshinemddata.com to start a conversation and schedule a demonstration.
