Site growth

Rescue studies: how sites get them

By TrialNotice · Updated
Coordinator on the phone at a scheduling whiteboard while a colleague hurries in carrying a stack of folders
Short answerRescue studies are trials that fall behind on enrollment, prompting sponsors to add new sites mid study. Sponsors choose rescue sites that can start quickly and enroll right away, which usually means sites with a strong track record, fast contracting, and patients ready to screen. Being on sponsor and CRO radars, and having demonstrable patient access, is how a site gets the call.

Why do rescue studies exist?

Because many trials miss their enrollment plans. In a typical trial, 37% of sites under enroll and 11% enroll none (Tufts CSDD), and the majority of trials run late (Applied Clinical Trials). With Phase III trials costing about $55,716 per day in direct costs (Tufts CSDD), sponsors add sites rather than wait.

What does a sponsor need from a rescue site?

  1. Speed to activation: fast contract, budget, and IRB turnaround.
  2. Immediate enrollment: patients identified before activation.
  3. Proven delivery on similar studies.
  4. Low risk: clean compliance history and stable staff.

How do sponsors find rescue sites?

  • Their own history and shared data: sponsors in the Investigator Databank consortium share enrollment rates and startup times (IQVIA).
  • CRO site networks and preferred site lists.
  • Sites they already trust: familiar sites start 9.9 weeks faster (Tufts CSDD), which matters most in a rescue.

How do you become the site they call?

  • Tell your CRA and sponsor contacts you take rescue work, and in which indications.
  • Keep regulatory documents, CVs, and training current so you can start in days.
  • Track and share your enrollment speed on past studies.
  • Register investigators where sponsors search (Bourne Partners).

What makes a rescue site succeed?

Patients on day one. A rescue site that activates and then starts looking for patients is just another slow site. Sites with active referral relationships in the indication can brief physicians the week the call comes in and screen within days. See how to rescue an underperforming site.

Get your study in front of the right local physicians

TrialNotice builds a physician referral pipeline around one active study. We identify relevant local physicians within driving distance of your site, send study aligned direct mail, follow up by email and LinkedIn, track engagement with recipient level QR codes, and route warm responses into your site team's workflow.

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Sources

  1. Tufts CSDD, patient recruitment and retention practices study (Jan 2013), via Fierce Biotech
  2. Getz K., "Is Investigative Site Feasibility Feasible?" Applied Clinical Trials
  3. Bourne Partners, "Update on the Fundamentals of Clinical Trial Sites" (SCRS Global Site Solutions Summit takeaways, October 2025)
  4. IQVIA, "Today's Investigator Databank and DQS: Welcoming the Next Generation of Consortium Members" (2025)
  5. Tufts CSDD, first comprehensive clinical site initiation benchmark (2018), via GlobeNewswire
  6. Tufts CSDD, "Quantifying the Value of a Day of Delay in Drug Development" white paper (2024)

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