Trial.Link: Revolutionizing Clinical Research Through Platform Economy – Empowering Pharma, CROs, and SMOs

Recently, policies have repeatedly mentioned "platform economy," sending positive signals of supporting the standardized development of the platform economy.

In January 2022, nine government departments issued a policy document to promote the standardized, healthy, and sustainable development of the platform economy. In late April, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting, stating that it was necessary to foster the healthy development of the platform economy, complete the special rectification campaign for the sector, implement routine regulatory oversight, and introduce specific measures to support its standardized and healthy growth.

The platform economy has seen mature applications in sectors such as housing rentals, shopping, and transportation. The emergence of platforms like Beike Zhaofang, Taobao, and Didi has given rise to new industry ecosystems. As the platform economy reaches a policy turning point, there is support for the development of internet platforms on one hand, and on the other handThis opens up new possibilities for more industries to reap the dividends of the platform economy, driving traditional niche sectors to more actively embrace the platform-based model.

Specifically in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, the platform economy is currently more prevalent on both the patient and provider sides, encompassing online consultations, medication purchases, and chronic disease management. In the realm of clinical research, however, the platform economy remains a novel concept, as the industry has long operated under established traditional models.The high costs and low efficiency of clinical research have become increasingly prominent pain points. A platform model that facilitates connectivity, interaction, matching, and value creation may offer a compelling solution for the industry.

Trial.Link, a clinical research services trading platform newly launched in early May by Miaoyi Biotech (the parent company of Yaoyanshe), provides an innovative force to break the vicious cycle of inefficiency and high costs in the clinical research industry amid the broader trend of the platform economy.

We see that Trial.Link addresses the issues of transaction and demand matching in clinical research, facilitating deal closure and high-quality project delivery. It possesses three core values: tool marketplaceization, online trading of surplus work hours from CRO/SMO business supply and demand, and maximization of individual talent (freelancer) value. Centered on “making pharmaceutical R&D more efficient,” it has made significant innovative changes to the “service transaction” scenario, enablingA one-stop solution to address the industry’s comprehensive needs for talent, tools, data, and services.

Starting from the new perspectives that platform models bring to improving quality and efficiency, as well as facilitating transactions in the clinical research industry, VCBeat interviewed Mr. Tang Anbang, head of the Trial.Link platform, to gain insights into the genuine needs of the clinical research industry for clinical research service trading platforms.

VCBeat:Trial.Link is currently positioned as a transaction platform for clinical research. In light of the current state of development in the clinical research industry, what do you see as the necessity for the emergence of such a transaction platform?

Tang Anbang:The clinical research industry has long been plagued by information asymmetry, a shortage of professional talent, and inefficient supply-demand matching. The upgraded Trial.Link is the industry’s first platform truly dedicated to facilitating service transactions.It focuses on addressing the issues of transaction and demand matching.Optimize Clinical Resource Allocation. The openness and shareability of the Trial.Link platform enable small and medium-sized CRO/SMO firms with limited project pipelines to access business opportunities and projects, achieve maximum site coverage, and rapidly match with the most suitable high-quality talent. Simultaneously, it provides sponsors and CROs that have project needs but struggle to identify reliable vendors with the most cost-effective options. The Tool Marketplace on the Trial.Link platform offers SaaS-enabled empowerment to industry partners, facilitating efficient business delivery governance and ensuring delivery quality.

VCBeat:Let us examine a set of data. In November 2021, the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) released the “Annual Report on the Status of New Drug Registration Clinical Trials in China (2020).” The number of new drug clinical trials increased significantly in 2020, with a total of 2,602 clinical trials registered, representing an overall increase of 9.1% compared to 2019. Domestic sponsors accounted for more than 70%. We recognize that alongside the substantial rise in the number of clinical trials, clinical research has become increasingly costly due to factors such as stricter regulatory policies for clinical trial applications and drug approval reviews, as well as rising patient recruitment costs. Data indicate that clinical-phase costs typically account for more than 66% of the total cost of new drug development; however, in recent years, the actual proportion for many innovative pharmaceutical companies has exceeded this figure. Therefore, cost control is bound to become a focal point for pharmaceutical enterprises. Can the Trial.Link platform model effectively help pharmaceutical companies improve efficiency and reduce costs?

Tang Anbang:The financial and time costs of clinical research have been rising year by year, forcing pharmaceutical companies to make changes. They need to identify which areas can reduce costs and which can improve efficiency: first,When seeking CRO/SMO partnerships, greater emphasis is placed on cost-effectiveness and delivery quality., followed byPrefer to select the most suitable professional service providers in niche fields, rather than blindly pursuing large-scale comprehensive CROs/SMOs.

When pharmaceutical companies face the choice between CROs and SMOs, they often find that a very small number of multinational corporations and large domestic integrated CRO/SMO firms dominate the majority share of China’s drug development market. While these CROs/SMOs can deliver high-quality services, their pricing is indeed expensive. Conversely, small and medium-sized CRO/SMO providers are numerous and fragmented, yet they commonly struggle with insufficient talent supply, limited institutional coverage, and weak project management capabilities. In reality, it is difficult for pharmaceutical companies to identify CROs/SMOs that offer an optimal balance of cost and quality while closely aligning with specific project requirements.

The clinical research transaction service platform, Trial.Link, offers a new approach to efficiently matching supply and demand. By aggregating domestic CRO/SMO project resources onto the platform, Trial.Link creates a synergistic effect for sharing surplus work hours, achieving maximal regional talent coverage, while integrating complementary strengths to refine service specialization. The platform features comprehensive supplier information, supports online price comparison and bidding, and ensures transparent pricing, enablingPharmaceutical companies can freely select the most suitable CRO/SMO for collaboration based on project characteristics and requirements.

VCBeat:We recognize that pharmaceutical companies are extremely sensitive to delivery quality and may have concerns regarding platform-based collaboration and shared workforce models. How does the Trial.Link platform model ensure delivery quality?

Tang Anbang:The quality of clinical trials determines their success or failure, making delivery quality paramount. First, all suppliers on the platform undergo rigorous quality system assessments and evaluations, ensuring sponsors can make selections with confidence. Second, by drawing lessons from our practical project experience, we have developed a task-based checklist and standardized processes, ultimately establishing standardized online delivery operations to ensure consistent delivery quality. Therefore, Trial.Link leverages real-world projectsEstablished a mature and rigorous quality delivery management system,All suppliers on the platform implement standardized delivery processes with end-to-end “visibility,” facilitating comprehensive follow-up and management by sponsors. Furthermore, the platform deeply engages in business delivery governance by breaking down the entire clinical research cycle into multiple smaller delivery milestones. Service providers promptly verify and upload deliverables at each milestone, ensuring timely and reliable delivery. In addition, Trial.Link’s suite of digital clinical research SaaS products is deeply integrated with operational workflows, providing technological empowerment and support across the full spectrum of clinical study scenarios and the entire value chain.

VCBeat:Since regulatory oversight has tightened and drug prices have been curbed since 2015, the return on investment for new drug R&D has declined, leading to intensified competition in the CRO/SMO industry. China’s clinical research sector is increasingly being labeled as experiencing “involution.” In your view, in what specific aspects does this “involution” manifest?

Tang Anbang:From the SMO perspective, the revenue contribution of an individual CRC is limited. Due to the on-site nature of their work, geographic constraints are significant, making it difficult to take on assignments across different regions or even departments. When there are no clinical trial projects at the hospital where a CRC is based, this leads toLow Utilization Rate of CRC Working Hoursphenomenon; on the other hand, due to the sponsor’s strict requirements for staff onboarding timelines, when an SMO undertakes a new project in a given location, it often urgently recruits or secondarily deploys local CRCs, incurring high labor costs. However, as the project enters its later stages or concludes, significant idle work hours arise, resulting in wasted labor costs.

According to survey statistics, there are over 300 small and medium-sized Site Management Organizations (SMOs) in China, with most companies employing around 100 staff members. The sector is characterized by regional disparities and high fragmentation, resulting in limited institutional coverage and project management capabilities. Amidst low utilization rates of Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) working hours and thin profit margins for SMOs, these organizations are forced into price-based competition, leading to reduced service quality that undermines project integrity and creates a vicious cycle.

On the CRO side,There are also issues such as excessive travel costs for CRAs and underutilization of some working hours. In addition, the CRO industryAnother major pain point lies in insufficient innovation and severe homogenized competition.Large CRO companies mostly expand cooperation and scale through investment, mergers, and acquisitions in the capital market. In contrast, small and medium-sized CROs face shrinking business volumes due to limited staff size, insufficient project management experience, and inconsistent service quality, further squeezing their market space.

VCBeat:So, what can the Trial.Link platform do to break the “involution” among CROs/SMOs?

Tang Anbang:The emergence of the Trial.Link platform has opened up more potential development pathways for CROs/SMOs,Through the sharing of surplus labor hours, Trial.Link can help CROs/SMOs strengthen their capacity to undertake multi-center projects. For small and medium-sized CRO/SMO enterprises lacking standardized process management, it can provide intelligent, end-to-end digital capabilities.Instead of relying solely on capital-driven strategies to achieve scale and comprehensiveness, adopt a collaborative, win-win approach to help CROs/SMOs establish a strong foothold in their areas of distinctive competitive advantage.“Small yet beautiful” specialized development is the innovative solution we offer to break through “involution.”

VCBeat:Why is Trial.Link launching China’s first freelance platform? Will practitioners embrace the freelance model?

Tang Anbang:The clinical industry is highly people-centric, making experienced professionals a key resource. Empowering talent has always been our unwavering value proposition. Trial.Link launchesChina's First Freelancer Platform, fully incubating the community of freelance professionals in the industry, with the aim of building a supply-and-demand platform that aggregates high-quality industry talent. With over ten years of experience as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA), I have deep personal insights into this matter. Clinical research professionals generally crave roles that demand high skills and extensive experience, allowing them to maximize their personal value by accumulating sufficient project experience. Due to the lack of ideal channels to take on more work projects, they can only increase their income by frequently changing jobs. For practitioners in clinical research,There are severe issues such as high work repetitiveness and intensity, a lack of collaboration tools, and insufficient room for self-growth.

Overseas, the flexible staffing model for clinical research has become quite mature, giving rise to multiple freelance CRA platforms such as FreelanceCRA and CRA Platform. In Europe and the United States, the proportion of freelance CRAs has exceeded 20%. Since freelancers rely on reputation to build their professional influence, they generally possess extensive experience and a strong sense of responsibility, thereby ensuring exceptional delivery quality.

Freelance clinical research professionals must undergo qualification assessment and certification before joining the platform, where they can undertake matched clinical research projects and leverage cost-effective clinical research tools. This enables them to achieve professional development, income growth, and a balanced work-life dynamic. Moreover, as social security contributions can now be made under freelance status in China, freelancers’ long-term concerns are effectively addressed. Meanwhile, sponsors, CROs, SMOs, and other talent-demanding entities can rapidly and precisely connect with highly experienced professionals on the platform, thereby alleviating challenges and pressures related to prolonged team-building cycles, high training costs, and insufficient workforce experience, ultimately reducing costs and enhancing efficiency.

VCBeat:For freelancers, pharmaceutical companies, and CROs/SMOs, Trial.Link provides tailored SaaS tools. Our question is: Why are the tools in the platform marketplace priced so low? Does this raise concerns about their applicability?

Tang Anbang:Trial.Link’s Tool Marketplace redefines the concept of “Trial Office” by focusing on business scenario applications, advocating that “quality tools need not be expensive.” It offers a clinical research-exclusive Office approach that is intuitive to understand and easy to use. All tools available have been thoroughly refined through our real-world projects and jointly developed by our in-house business and technical teams, who have years of deep expertise in clinical research, ensuring their applicability and a deeper understanding of clinical research scenarios.

Why is the pricing so low? Our perspective is as follows: The entire industry is still in the early stages of technological and digital transformation. Tools are currently one of the essential means to improve efficiency. However, if price barriers prevent universal access to these tools, it will be difficult to achieve true high-efficiency collaboration among all stakeholders in the industry. Therefore, only by offering tools that are both user-friendly and affordable can we realize inclusive accessibility, enabling everyone to utilize them and thereby enhancing the efficiency of project collaboration.

Trial.Link’s tools cover the entire clinical research value chain, including the MY-PMCP management and collaboration platform, MY-eDocs document management system, MY-TDC clinical research data decision support system, MY-EDC clinical trial data management system, MY-RTSM randomization and trial supply management system, and MY-SSS site selection and recommendation system. Whether for site selection, site initiation, or project management, corresponding tools are available on the platform to provide support, thereby ensuring quality delivery on the platform.

“In previous clinical studies, information and resources among pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and SMOs were fragmented. The Trial.Link platform serves to integrate all high-quality resources,” said Tang Anbang, discussing the inception and future of Trial.Link. “We hope that Trial.Link will become a foundational platform for the clinical research industry. There will be no need to post on social media to seek resources; selecting and transacting services will be as easy as shopping on Taobao. Whether for pharmaceutical companies, CROs, SMOs, or freelancers, all business scenarios can achieve optimal supply-demand matching on Trial.Link, with appropriate clinical research tools available for selection. This will significantly improve the efficiency of clinical research, substantially reduce costs, and foster healthy development. The pandemic has had a considerable impact on the industry. I believe the significance of the platform lies in ensuring that no one fights alone; instead, participants support each other and engage in healthy competition.”

Currently, clinical research continues to evolve along the logic of higher efficiency and lower cost. Clinical research service trading platforms offer new approaches for small and medium-sized CROs/SMOs to build long-term competitiveness,Platformization will inevitably be the ideal path for cost reduction and efficiency enhancement in clinical research.

Currently, the exploration of platform-based clinical research is in its early stages, with Trial.Link pioneering a model. Going forward, the primary direction for platform development will be to continuously strengthen foundational infrastructure, provide a broader array of clinical research tools, and cover more clinical research business scenarios, thereby offering a one-stop solution to address the industry’s needs for talent, tools, and data.

Amid soaring costs and cutthroat competition in the clinical research industry, CROs and SMOs are actively seeking new pathways to break through the impasse, beyond merely embracing clinical research platforms. Current initiatives include expanding into innovative drug development and pursuing overseas expansion. VCBeat believes that whether it is venturing into innovative drugs or going global,The power of platform collaboration remains indispensable, and enterprises that take the lead in embracing the platformization of clinical research will gain a competitive edge.