Re: Projected income from clinical trials Herbert B. Chermside 09 Oct 2001 08:26 EST
At VCU we do the same. I'm not aware of any better method, given the nature of clinical trial agreements. Somehow the PI's projections usually exceed the final revenue. (Is this because rewards, formal or informal, are so often based on award data?) It is sometimes difficult to clarify to those not familiar with sponsored programs processes that the "face value" of an award is almost always either an upper limit on what will be expended (cost reimbursement agreement), or an estimate (fixed unit price, with variable number of units). If revenue projection is important, you can set up a system that continually updates estimates based on experience. Such a system might cost more than the value it produces. An inexpensive approach might be quarterly updates of projections based on "expert estimates". Another factor in predicting expenses/revenue is that most of us record awards based on the start date of the project, but expenditures/revenues occur throughout the life of a project, so their reporting date necessarily lags the award reporting. We have found that the ratio of total awards for a FY and total expenditures for that FY is fairly constant, so we use that to help in some broad budgeting processes. Chuck At 05:01 PM 10/8/01 -0500, you wrote: >Our preaward office keeps a data base that records applications and awards >from which we produce various reports. When we record the awards for >clinical trials, we record the amount the PI projects the project will >generate. Since the true amount for the trial is usually the actual number >of subjects enrolled times the amount the sponsor pays, the amounts in our >data base are projections rather than true amounts like the ones that appear >on award notices--often optimistic projections at that. How do other >offices report on "awards" for clinical trials? > >Peter J. Dolce, Ph.D., Director >Office of Research Support Services >Meharry Medical College >1005 DB Todd Boulevard >Nashville, TN 37208 >V 615 327 6703 >F 615 327 6716 > > >====================================================================== > Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including > subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available > via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") >====================================================================== Herbert B. Chermside, CRA Director, Sponsored Programs Administration Virginia Commonwealth University PO BOX 980568 Richmond, VA 23298-0568 Express Delivery Only: Sanger Hall, Rm. 1-032A 11th & Marshall Streets Richmond, VA 23219 Voice: 804-828-6772 Fax 804-828-2521 OFFICE e-mail xxxxxx@VCU.EDU Personal e-mail xxxxxx@vcu.edu http://views.vcu.edu/ospa/ ====================================================================== Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") ======================================================================