Meet SCRS Global Impact Partner: Pacific Clinical Research Network

Rosie McKellar, CEO of the Pacific Clinical Research Network (PCRN) New Zealand, shares insights from her organization’s innovative network partners model and their deep commitment to patient outcomes. PCRN’s efficient recruitment strategies and speedy trial execution have positioned New Zealand as a key player in global clinical research. Rosie also discusses PCRN’s collaboration with SCRS as a Global Impact Partner and what’s next for clinical research in New Zealand and Australia.

Transcript

Jimmy Bechtel: 0:00

Greetings and thank you for being part of the Society for Clinical Research Sites for SCRS Talks. I'm your host, Jimmy Bechtel, the Vice President of Site Engagement with the Society. Get ready to dive into pressing clinical research industry topics, celebrate noteworthy achievements, and create a deeper connection with the research community. This is a space to amplify voices and perspectives that shape the landscape of clinical research. Today, I'm lucky to have Rosie McKellar, the Chief Executive Officer with the Pacific Clinical Research Network or PCRN down in New Zealand, here to share with us a little bit more about why they joined the SCRS Global Impact Partnership program and the value that New Zealand clinical research sites can bring to the research enterprise. Rosie, it's great to have you. We're really excited that you guys are becoming an even more ingrained part of what SCRS does. But before we get into our discussion today, I'd love for our listeners to learn a little bit more about you.

Rosie McKellar: 1:07

Thanks so much. It's a real delight to be able to talk to you today. So I had a bit of a serendipitous entry into clinical research. After university, my first job involved abstracting and analysing clinical trial designs. And I quickly realised that I knew what I wanted to really do, and that was actually get my hands dirty within clinical trials. So I joined the industry and over the last more than three decades, I've worked in a variety of roles across pharma and CROs, firstly in New Zealand and then leading teams in Australia. And then I've had 16 years in the UK, predominantly leading global CRO teams. I returned to New Zealand last year to take up the role of CEO at PCRN.

Jimmy Bechtel: 1:52

Well, Rosie, I'm excited to talk with you in this context with your diverse background, which is always great to bring to the enterprise and the work that we do together at SCRS. So can you start us off telling our listeners about PCRN and how our partnership together really aligns with your organization's mission and values?

Rosie McKellar: 2:17

Sure. So we became Pacific Clinical Research Network, or as you said, PCRN for short, in 2021. It was the result of a merger of two clinical trial organisations that have operated in New Zealand since 2002. So that's given us a very vast depth of knowledge to draw on. PCRN's taken a revolutionary approach to working with partners, placing participants and quality at the heart of every study. So we've got nine clinical research sites across New Zealand. We've got experience in a wide range of therapeutic areas and that is expanding all the time. Our newest site opened in Auckland in late 2023, so last year. It's considered a multi phase unit. It's got 24 beds and an associated lab and full compounding pharmacy facility. This allows us to have and do first and human studies and early phase studies, but also take assets through to later phases, all in the same state of the art facility. Our other sites the other eight all focus on later phase studies. We've got over a hundred staff, including 20 investigators across the network. But then nothing that we do in this industry is done in isolation, so being a global impact partner for SCRS allows us to work more collaborative with industry leaders in pharma, biotech, and CROs, as well as with other sites all of whom share the same vision as we do. It's a huge privilege to work with participants at a site level. You know, in the industry we talk a lot about sites and patients and how important they are, but being in a role where we're translating what sponsors and CROs provide us with and turning that into real data for real people with real issues is extremely rewarding.

Jimmy Bechtel: 4:06

I couldn't agree more, Rosie. It's really exciting to hear the growth that PCRN has seen over these last couple of years and the direction that you guys are taking the organization. Again, it sounds like you have a lot to offer the global clinical research enterprise. So, you talk a little bit about the network partners model. We've talked about that during your GIP onboarding as well. So can you share a little bit about what's unique about the network model that you guys have built there in New Zealand and how it might work to support faster and more efficient trial recruitment?

Rosie McKellar: 4:45

Sure, yeah, the story of PCRN really began with collaboration and a shared vision of healthcare excellence as its basis. Our team saw the opportunity for a journey to bridge healthcare and research. So our partner network model starts with creating efficiencies through standardization of processes across many assets of the journey through a clinical trial. Starts with feasibility and one point of contact for all our studies across our sites. We've centralized our startup activities that includes our IRB IEE submissions and our contracts. Our data entry is centralized and our recruitment strategy, development and execution. It then extends into the use of technology for eSource and CTMS. That's extremely efficient for our teams because we're not using paper, but it also means the industry has access to our data for remote monitoring, something that's really important as the industry is evolving into new ways of doing monitoring. So we've also got very fast startup timelines. So we get our studies up and run really quickly. Typically we go from IRB, IEC submission to first patient in within about three months. However, this can be quicker for some studies. So that puts us really with some of the quickest startup timeframes globally. Having a network where sites are located throughout New Zealand gives us access to the majority of the 5. 5 million people that live in this country. And we use traditional but innovative recruitment methods to tailor the recruitment strategy for each study. It means we take pride in meeting and exceeding our recruitment targets. And of course, we know some studies are harder to recruit than others. It's a, it's an industry issue, but we like to course correct in real time so that we're continually evolving the strategy to overcome challenges as they present themselves during the recruitment period of the study.

Jimmy Bechtel: 6:50

Rosie, I really liked some of the statistics that you gave. It's great to see that you guys have instituted so many different practices and procedures and methods to speed the execution of clinical trials. And I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the centralization of some of the work that you guys and and like you said, hot topic, right? The use of technology and using those as tools to build efficiency at your team. So I hope that those that are listening are able to glean some options, some things to consider as they're looking for ways to speed up some of what they do, even if at a high level of place, at least a direction to head. So Rosie, then what advice do you have for other sites that are out there and industry partners looking to form really on the same thread that we were just on here, mutually beneficial relationships, similar to your network partner model? And maybe, in general terms for, organizations that might not be in a network model, but you know, the foundation of it being building strong relationships to maybe see some of these efficiencies that you guys have been able to institutionalize.

Rosie McKellar: 7:58

Forums that bring industry and sites together are always going to be mutually beneficial and solid relationships are always built on respect and trust and trust that we can deliver what we say we can. I think that is the foundation of and the benefit of having these types of relationships. I think sites build important relationships with their CRAs, but they're often many steps away from decision makers. And this is where these forums have become a great asset to us as sites. You know, sites don't always understand how the rest of the industry works. They see parts of it, but not all of it. And they often don't have a lot of understanding of how CROs and sponsors, for example, work together within a study and how those decisions that are made, that they see the last result of, you know, what the foundation of those decisions are. And likewise, I think, the decision makers don't always have as much information from sites, perhaps of what some of the challenges are that they're having that would help them make decisions as well. So I think these forums allow us to come together and share that knowledge. And it just enhances the industry completely.

Jimmy Bechtel: 9:10

That's a great example. And SCRS is, in a lot of ways, serving as one of those forums, which is again, the impetus for the formation of the relationship that we have together, which is great. So thank you for speaking to the importance of opportunities like SCRS, but so many others out there that exist. Rosie, we'll begin to wrap things up here. I do want to, and always like to end on the future. And what's happening next, where we can go, where we can head as an industry. So what are some of your hopes for the future of clinical research in New Zealand? And specifically then how does PCRN plan to contribute to that vision? What is your role in what's next for New Zealand?

Rosie McKellar: 9:53

So New Zealand's a fantastic place to do clinical research, and you could probably say that I'm biased because this is my home but I've lived and worked internationally, as I said earlier, so I feel I've got the ability to say that. As a country, we've been doing clinical trials for a long time. Our teams have a lot of experience. And as I said, we've got some of the fastest timeframes globally. Data quality is high, our standard of medical services are good, with highly trained clinical staff, and in some disease areas and conditions, we've got treatment naive patients. We do have an R& D tax incentive in New Zealand that baselines at 15 percent but you can look for up to another 28 percent through tax loss credit. So, you know, bringing everything together, it's a great place to do clinical trials, and there's certainly a lot of capacity within the country to do more. And we as PCRN would love to see a greater number of trials coming to New Zealand and there's plenty of other people in the industry who have a similar vision as we do. What people sometimes don't realise is that our working day overlaps with the US. It's not the same day, but that doesn't really matter. We can talk to you during your working day. And I think that is a great advantage. It's a little more difficult with our colleagues in the UK and EU, but we're used to managing that. So we will make it work so that even though there isn't an overlap in time zones during the working day, we can still have communication with sponsors and project teams that are beneficial. Recruitment is always at the top of everybody's list. You know studies fail because they don't recruit and we're always trying to recruit faster and it's always a challenge for the industry. Our data within PCRN shows that over the last 10 years we've exceeded our recruitment targets and our patient retention is extremely high at about 94 percent. So recruiting is possible even in a market that looks like it might be some distance away and be small but by working together, and our industry is very good at working together, we understand that it's important that we collaborate with each other within New Zealand, and because we all want to bring more trials to our shores and achieve the vision of more studies overall, bringing more innovation and new compounds and new assets to patients within the New Zealand environment.

Jimmy Bechtel: 12:16

Well, Rosie, I think that's an excellent sentiment to end our conversation on. I couldn't agree more. My experience with the New Zealand audience has been always a positive one. And I also recognize the importance of that flexibility with the time zones and working with that. So thanks for that added emphasis as well. It was really great to have you. It was really great to learn even more about the powerhouse that is PCRN and New Zealand as a place to conduct clinical trials. Again, thanks for being with us here today. Thanks for sharing a little bit more about your organization and the importance of New Zealand in the clinical trial landscape and the conversation.

Rosie McKellar: 12:57

Thanks so much. It's been great to be here and we are extremely excited about being a Global Impact Partner with SCRS. Thanks again.

Jimmy Bechtel: 13:06

As we conclude, for those listening, don't forget to explore other site focused resources made available to you, like various publications and webinars on our website, myscrs. org. You'll also find a wealth of content and details about our upcoming engagement opportunities, like our Site Solutions Summits, being held throughout the year. Thanks again for listening, and until next time.