Livre Blanc
A Predictive Approach to Accelerating Clinical Development
How earlier insight, automated workflows and expertise help deliver meaningful clinical development program acceleration
Aug 13, 2026

Clinical development programs continue to face growing complexity, longer timelines, and increasing pressure to deliver therapies to patients faster.

This white paper explores how a predictive approach can help sponsors make more informed decisions earlier, reduce uncertainty, prevent avoidable delays, and accelerate development through the combination of real-world data, predictive analytics, AI, automation, and deep therapeutic and operational expertise.

Drawing on decades of experience leading clinical research transformation and global development operations, this paper provides a practical framework for unlocking measurable gains in speed, efficiency, and commercial value across the clinical development lifecycle.

Authored by Brian O'Dwyer, President of Global Clinical Development, and Cyndi Verst, PharmD, MS, President of Design and Delivery Innovation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Drug development programs now take nearly two years longer to complete than they did a decade ago This is driven by increasing complexity along with more endpoints, protocol amendments, greater regulatory requirements and more global, multi-site trials.

IQVIA helps sponsors anticipate risks early and remove uncertainty before it becomes a delay. 

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A predictive approach works to anticipate delays and take steps to prevent them before a trial begins, rather than reacting to issues once the trial is underway.

Predictive Clinical Development is IQVIA’s approach to accelerate clinical development- by anticipating risk early and removing uncertainty before it becomes a delay. It is not a tool but an operating model. It uses data and analytics to inform decisions in real time, instead of treating planning as a series of disconnected steps.

IQVIA delivers this continuous framework connecting early trial strategy with day-to-day operational execution. This helps sponsors remove delays before they reach the critical path.

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The greatest opportunity to accelerate development occurs before protocols are finalized, when decisions about study design and endpoint strategy can still be shaped. Refining these choices early improves protocol quality and readiness to execute.

IQVIA brings scientific and regulatory expertise together to pressure-test assumptions early. This helps sponsors build stronger protocols with fewer downstream delays.

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Early regulatory engagement helps align a study with scientific objectives and regulatory precedent, often surfacing more appropriate endpoints before a protocol is finalized. This lowers the odds of a health authority challenging the design later in development. 

IQVIA's regulatory affairs specialists help sponsors navigate evolving health authority expectations across global markets, reducing the risk of amendments and delayed approvals.

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Patient recruitment is one of the biggest drivers of acceleration during trial conduct. It improves most when predictive patient intelligence is paired with strong, ongoing site support Predictive modelling is a critical part of upfront planning. Getting the site and recruitment strategy right from the start helps improve speed and efficiency through recruitment.

From here, active relationship management and strong site performance help keep patient recruitment on track and reduce reliance on underperforming sites. IQVIA pairs pre-protocol patient insights with targeted recruitment campaigns. This helps sponsors extend site capacity and improve enrollment execution.

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Sponsors can reach database lock faster by standardizing how data is collected and reviewed throughout the study, rather than waiting to reconcile issues at the end.

IQVIA uses and integrated data approach to identify and resolve issues and they arise, reducing rework and making database lock more predictable. That same approach helps accelerate the work that follows, so key deliverable and submission packages can be completed sooner without compromising quality.

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