For contract research organisations

Keep complex studies moving
from setup to closeout.

AQ helps contract research organisations organise study start-up, site delivery, sponsor-file work and quality follow-through in the workflows they own. Add site-file, pharmacy and delegation workflows when your service scope requires them.

See how AQ works for CROs
Core — every CROWhere the organisation holds that scope
On this page
The CRO operating pressure

Fragmented study operations make clinical trial delivery difficult to coordinate.

Study set-up, site activation, participant delivery, sponsor reporting and quality follow-up rarely sit with one team. When every handoff depends on a separate tracker or application, delays become difficult to see and expensive to correct.

The cost of disconnected handoffs

People re-enter information, chase confirmations and reconcile files across systems that do not communicate with one another.

Where the study slows down
Study start-up is difficult to coordinate
Requirements, sites, staff, milestones and essential documents are managed across different teams and systems.
Site progress is difficult to monitor consistently
Contract research organisations need to compare recruitment, screen failures, site readiness and follow-up requirements across participating sites.
Sponsors receive fragmented and delayed information
When updates are assembled from separate systems, important issues may reach the sponsor only after they have affected delivery.
Protocol amendments and deviations create additional work
A study change can affect documentation, training, delegation, pharmacy requirements, participant communication and site implementation.
The questions contract research organisations answer daily

Move from study status to the action behind it.

Select a question to open the workflow where the relevant evidence, responsibility and follow-up are managed.

The questionWhere the answer is worked
Select a question to open the workflow where that work is coordinated.
The CRO study delivery workflow

See how AQ supports study coordination from setup through closeout.

Explore the operational views used to organise study documentation, follow up site requirements, coordinate protocol changes and provide sponsors with controlled access to agreed evidence.

View 1 · Set up the study
Establish the study structure before delivery begins.
View 1 / 6

Create the study and site structure, organise expected documentation, configure access and prepare the procedures and learning assignments required for the work ahead.

Active in this view
CTMSeTMFQMS
Add when the scope requires it
eISFPharmacyDigital DoACAPA
aq-trials.com/ctms/study-setupCRO VIEW
Operational outcomes

Every request is issued, tracked and evidenced.

Select a moment in the study to see the follow-up, approvals and evidence AQ handles, and the outcome it produces.

Study activityAQ-2411 · Site 04Live
OutcomeLess manual follow-up
Coverage across the operational span

Each category of application covers part of the operational span.

Contract research organisations assemble study evidence across several applications. This is the span each category of software typically covers, and where the work passes to something else.

Categories are illustrative. Individual products vary, and several are used together on the same study.

Access across CRO teams

Study information aligned with each team’s responsibilities.

Configure access to the studies, sites and records each team needs for its work — from study setup and documentation review to quality follow-up and sponsor oversight.

TeamWorks onAccess
CRO leadership and operationsDelivery status, scope changes, resourcing and sponsor commitments.Authorised studies
Study start-upStudy and site structure, access and expected documentation.Assigned studies
Clinical operationsRecruitment against expectation and site follow-up.Assigned studies
TMF and regulatory operationsExpected documentation, filing status and handover.Trial file
Quality and complianceProcedures, learning, quality actions and verification.Organisation-wide
Site and pharmacy reviewersInvestigator and pharmacy documentation for their own site.Permitted folders
Coexistence

Existing study applications remain in place.

CROs rarely operate a study through one application. Sponsor-mandated and other study applications continue to manage the activities they are designed for, and integration is scoped only where information genuinely needs to move.

Data capture and database management
EDC configuration, database builds, query management and database lock.
Safety reporting
Case processing, signal management and expedited reporting.
Randomisation
Treatment allocation and randomisation management.
Finance, contracts and resourcing
Budgets, contracting, invoicing, utilisation and financial reporting.
Data analysis and laboratory applications
Statistical programming, analysis environments and laboratory systems.
Where information must move between applications, integration is scoped around the study's requirements, the permissions involved and validation responsibilities. No connection is assumed.
Assurance and compliance

The evidence your quality, IT and sponsor teams request before approval

Validation, data security, data protection and residency documentation, available to contract research organisations and their sponsors on request.

21 CFR Part 11ICH-GCPALCOA+Cyber EssentialsG-Cloud
ValidationIQ, OQ and PQ documentation provided on request.On request
Data securityNHS DSPT, Cyber Essentials Plus and G-Cloud.Certified
Data protectionUK GDPR, DPIA pack and data processing agreement.Provided
Data residencyUK-hosted, with the provider named on request.UK
Audit historyDocument actions, access decisions and signatures recorded.Exportable
FAQs

Questions contract research organisations ask before introducing new clinical trial software.

A CRO needs software that supports the responsibilities it has been contracted to deliver, including study setup, site documentation, recruitment oversight, quality follow-up, delegation and sponsor reporting. AQ can be configured around those responsibilities, so CROs can use the relevant modules without replacing every system already used by their sponsors or sites.

Your operating model

Show us how your organisation runs a study.

We will map your start-up, site delivery, documentation and quality workflows to the AQ views that support them.

Also built forNHS / HospitalAcademic ResearchSponsorsSMOs and site networks
Map your workflow

Request a live AQ workflow walkthrough.

Thirty minutes on your own studies — start-up, site delivery, sponsor-file work and quality follow-through, in one governed record.

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Request a Guided AQ Tour

Practical walkthroughs aligned with active research delivery.

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send relevant AQ updates. No spam.

Used only to arrange your walkthrough. No spam, no third parties.Reply within one working day
01The workflows your organisation owns, view by view
02A real change, end to end, with the audit trail
03Configuration, access model and your timeline
21 CFR Part 11ICH-GCPALCOA+Cyber EssentialsG-Cloud
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