NIHR has launched new interactive costing tool for life sciences industry
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has announced the launch of a web-base interactive Costing Tool (iCT), superseding the Excel-based version of the industry costing templates.
The iCT is now available as a module within the NIHR Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS).
The new tool will bring major improvements with regards to:
- user interface and usability
- system reliability
- device compatibility
- improved audit funcionality
- resource sharing
According to the NIHR the new tool will bring major improvements with regards to:
“The iCT identifies resources required to deliver each specific study in the NHS (including NHS trusts, primary care organisations and specialist research locations like Clinical Research Facilities), to which a standardised costing methodology is applied, to provide a price estimate for the commercial company. A negotiation follows with each participating site until both parties reach an agreement, which is then included in the site contract to undertake the study.”
The iCT is creating a pathway to a new single review process for all commercial studies.
NIHR have published a guidance on what is needed to use the system, the documentation available and referencing for the data sources.