Janssen Research & Development today said it established a global cross-pharmaceutical Investigator Databank designed to save money, time, and effort spent carrying out industry-sponsored clinical trials.

Merck and Eli Lilly will be the first two companies to join Janssen in the database initiative, which will house key information about investigators and clinical trial sites, such as infrastructure and Good Clinical Practice training records. The database will not include patient data.

“The current clinical trial environment is inefficient, costly, and unsustainable. The Investigator Databank can help expedite the process,” Andreas Koester, M.D., Ph.D., Head, Clinical Trial Innovation/External Alliances, Janssen R&D, said in a statement.

The Investigator Databank will serve as a foundation for the TransCelerate initiative, in which Janssen joined nine other companies to launch TransCelerate BioPharma, an effort to identify and overcome common drug development challenges with the goals of improving the quality of clinical studies and bringing new medicines to patients faster.

TransCelerate member companies that wish to join the database automatically qualify for participation. The Investigator Databank is expected to be operational by the end of this year, and incorporated within TransCelerate by mid-2013.

Hosting the Investigator Databank will be DrugDev.org, which connects sponsors to investigators capable of conducting clinical trials while providing the researchers with access to opportunities for new studies.

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