Recognizing the CROs Most Trusted by Clinical Trial Sponsors
The CRO Leadership Awards honor the contract research organizations that sponsors rate highest in key performance categories. Based entirely on sponsor feedback, these awards reflect real-world experience and help set a standard of excellence across the clinical research industry.
The 2025 winners will be announced on November 10.
This year’s program welcomes new supporting sponsors including The Conference Forum (TCF), DPHARM, CMO Summit 360, and Patients as Partners. We’re also proud to introduce a new research partner: Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (Tufts CSDD), which is conducting the 2025 sponsor survey and leading the analysis that determines this year’s winners.
The CRO Leadership Awards were created by Clinical Leader and Life Science Connect to give sponsors an objective, data-based resource when evaluating CRO partners. Unlike marketing-driven rankings, these awards are based solely on quantitative sponsor feedback across six core performance categories.
Award Categories:
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Capabilities
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Compatibility
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Expertise
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Quality
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Reliability
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Phase IV
Are You a Clinical Trial Sponsor?
Help shape this year’s awards by sharing your CRO experience in the official 2025 survey. Your feedback helps elevate the organizations that are raising the bar in clinical research.
Take the Survey*
*Note: Only sponsor-side professionals who have outsourced clinical trials to CROs in the past 18 months are eligible to complete the survey. CROs may not nominate themselves or submit on behalf of clients. There is no cost to participate.
Our 2025 Sponsors
We appreciate the organizations whose support helps bring this year’s CRO Leadership Awards to life.
2024 Winners By Category & Respondent Group
CROs have an opportunity to win these awards in up to three groups of outsourcing respondents—Big Pharma, Small Pharma, and Overall (combined Big and Small Pharma). We also recognize those companies that scored one standard deviation or more above the weighted average in each of the core categories. You will see these companies noted as the Champions.
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Champions Overall
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Exceeded Customer Expectations Overall
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Small Pharma
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Champions Overall
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Small Pharma
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Exceeded Customer Expectations Overall
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Small Pharma
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Champions Overall
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Small Pharma
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Exceeded Customer Expectations Overall
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Champions Overall
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Small Pharma
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Exceeded Customer Expectations Overall
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Champions Overall
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Exceeded Customer Expectations Overall
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Small Pharma
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Survey Methodology: ISR's Contract Research Organization Quality Benchmarking research is conducted annually via an online survey. For the 2024 CRO Leadership Awards, 42 CROs were evaluated on more than 20 performance metrics. Research participants were recruited from biopharmaceutical companies of all sizes and were screened for decision-making influence and authority when it comes to working with CROs. Respondents only evaluated companies with which they had worked on an outsourced project within the past 18 months. This level of qualification ensures that ratings come from actual involvement with a business and that companies identified as leaders are backed by experiential data. CROs must meet the minimum threshold of customer survey responses to be eligible for an award.
The CRO Leadership Awards recognize top outsourcing partners, determined by feedback from sponsor companies who outsource clinical trials. The awards are presented by Clinical Leader, Life Science Connect, and Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (Tufts CSDD).
Clinical Leader provides a forum for addressing challenges in clinical research, from CRO selection and patient recruitment to clinical trial management and technology adoption.
Life Science Connect is a network of life science-focused communities designed to connect professionals and suppliers through actionable content, live events, and digital engagement.
Tufts CSDD is an academic research center that administers and analyzes the sponsor survey behind the 2025 awards.