Clinical Trial Strategy & Execution

Senior‑led clinical trial design and end‑to‑end execution for medical devices, combination products, and device‑adjacent biotech programs.

Trusted in High-Risk FDA Integrity Cases

Chosen for nearly two dozen FDA data-integrity audits.

Audit-Grade Clinical Operations

Built for inspections, not just enrollment.

30+ Years in Complex Devices & Biotech

Decades guiding high‑stakes medtech and biotech programs.

Efficient Design. Disciplined Execution. Defensible Results.

Health Policy Associates (HPA) provides clinical trial strategy and management services for medical devices, combination products, and device‑adjacent biotech programs. We focus on FDA‑centered programs where data quality, inspection readiness, and credible timelines are crucial.

Whether you’re planning a new study or stabilizing an off‑track trial, we will pressure‑test your trial design and put practical operations in place so you reach closeout with evidence you can stand behind.

HPA’s understanding of FDA compliance is light years above everybody else’s.

They work collaboratively with the sites. They can see what’s happening that might be a problem and fix it rather than just documenting it after the fact.”

— Roger Brown

Therapeutic Area Head, Musculoskeletal Repair, Mesoblast

HPA Helps You Relieve Real‑World Trial Pressures

Design reality checks.

You need to know whether your proposed indication, endpoints, follow‑up, and sample size are realistic, or whether they will turn into an expensive treadmill that never quite finishes.

Startup bottlenecks.

The design looks sound on paper, but site qualification, contracting, IRB/ethics approvals, TMF setup, and training keep slipping, compressing downstream timelines.

Enrollment and site performance.

Enrollment lags, a few sites carry most of the load, and monitoring or protocol adherence varies more than you’re comfortable with.

Monitoring, data quality, and safety workflows.

Deviations, queries, and AE/SAE handling feel more reactive than controlled, raising questions about inspection readiness and downstream rework.

Closeout and database lock.

As the board or investors fixate on a readout date, documentation gaps and unresolved queries threaten to delay closeout and weaken confidence in the results.

Our clinical trial strategy and execution services are designed to turn these pressures into a structured plan: a trial design you can stand behind, a concrete activation plan, and day‑to‑day execution that keeps the study moving with inspection‑ready documentation.

Why Medtech and Biotech Sponsors Choose HPA

Get Actionable Clarity

When the stakes are high, HPA turns ambiguity into clear findings, prioritized risks and next steps, so your team stops debating in gray areas and starts moving with conviction.

Defend Your Decisions Under FDA Scrutiny

HPA helps you make decisions and build evidence that holds up under FDA questioning—especially when data integrity, framing, or compliance concerns could derail your program.

Keep A Stable, Senior Team—and A Predictable Budget

Our senior-led team stays with you and manages scope changes transparently, so you avoid handoff drag, reduce rework, and control spend without the change-order spiral.

What To Expect From HPA’s Clinical Trial Strategy & Execution Services

A trial design and feasibility map that outlines indication, endpoints, follow‑up, sample size, and site mix, stress‑tested against enrollment reality, site capacity, operational burden, and budget. You see what it will actually take to run the study and where the real constraints are before you commit.

A protocol synopsis and operating blueprint translating the agreed strategy into a concrete plan, including key design elements, inclusion/exclusion criteria, endpoints, follow‑up schedule, and operational assumptions—aligned, where applicable, with FDA feedback from Pre‑Sub/Q‑Sub or other interactions.

A coordinated startup and activation package covering site identification and qualification, contracting, IRB/ethics approvals, TMF setup, and core training. The goal is to move selected sites from concept to active enrollment in a consistent, controlled way.

Ongoing operations management that monitors enrollment, site performance, monitoring cadence, data quality, protocol deviations, and AE/SAE handling. We establish clear routines and reporting so issues are caught early and execution stays on a steady cadence.
Structured support for site closeout, final data cleaning and database lock, and authoring of the Clinical Study Report (CSR) and related outputs. This ensures inspection‑ready documentation and decision‑grade results for regulatory submissions and internal stakeholders.

Extended Support When Needed

Some programs need more than the basics. When trials are particularly high‑risk or under intense scrutiny, we can extend our clinical trial strategy and execution work to include the following:

Mock BIMO Site Readiness Audit

A simulated FDA‑style BIMO review of selected sites or the overall program to surface inspection risks and corrective actions ahead of an actual inspection—even in cases where another CRO is running the study.

Least‑Burdensome Trial Design Sprint

A focused working session to reshape trial design to reduce patient counts, duration, and operational burden while staying within what the FDA and good clinical practice are likely to accept.

Protocol‑Focused Pre‑Sub Support

Protocol‑centric Pre‑Sub/Q‑Sub support, including questions, rationale, and briefing content, to obtain early FDA feedback and alignment on lean or unconventional designs before timelines and budgets are locked in.

KOL & High‑Performing Site Acceleration

Targeted support to identify, engage, and activate key opinion leaders and historically strong enrolling sites, then move them through startup quickly so a core group of reliable centers can carry a disproportionate share of enrollment.

Rebuttal & Response Strategy Support

Drafting and refining rebuttals and response packages when trial design, execution, or data are challenged by the FDA, boards, partners, or internal leadership, with clear language, defensible rationale, and coherent packaging of evidence.

What to Expect When You Work With HPA

1.

Initial Conversation & Triage

We start with a short call to understand your product, current regulatory status, recent FDA interactions, key milestones, and urgency.

You get a candid view of whether HPA is a good fit and what type of regulatory consulting engagement would help.

2.

Light Documentation Review

We review a small set of key documents (for example, your latest FDA letter or high‑level plan) to confirm we can help and to scope the work.

This lets us understand the situation without asking your team to assemble a huge data room up front.

3.

Scope, Proposal & Engagement Plan

You receive a clear outline of the questions we’ll help answer, the depth of review, and the core deliverables.

We define how we’ll work with your team and provide a proposal with the scope, timelines, fees, and information on how scope changes are handled.

4.

Kickoff

Once engaged, we hold a kickoff to align on objectives, roles, and ways of working.

We then perform a more structured review of your FDA correspondence, strategy documents, relevant clinical and safety summaries, and, where relevant, EU/international market files.

5.

Strategy, Gap Assessment & Action Plan

We develop or refine the regulatory strategy, confirm or adjust classification and pathway(s), map key submissions, and identify evidence and documentation gaps.

This becomes your FDA Path & Submission Map, Regulatory Gap Assessment, and Regulatory Action Plan.

6.

Ongoing Support

As you move into submissions and FDA interactions, we review your submission drafts and, when appropriate, provide extended support to sharpen briefing materials and prepare for meetings.

We also provide an Executive Summary for internal leaders and investors and can stay involved to interpret new regulatory feedback and keep the plan on track.

If you also need support with your regulatory classification, pathway, or submissions, our Regulatory Consulting Services help ensure your trial strategy stays aligned with your overall regulatory plan.

Clarity creates confidence, and confidence drives action.

HPA operates at an entirely different level of rigor than many organizations in that space. Their team has shared knowledge, depth of expertise, and a critical lens.

They moved quickly, delivered under budget, and didn’t just analyze policy, but rather helped to translate it into something actionable that we can communicate confidently to investors and our team.”

— Erin Doyle

VP and Head of Marketing & Communications, SeeMedX

Bring Audit‑Grade Rigor to Your Toughest Clinical Trials

When you’re carrying the weight of a pivotal readout, an off‑track study, or a trial design that feels risky, the problem isn’t just earning the last patient visit. It’s being confident the data and documentation will stand up when people start asking hard questions.

HPA brings senior‑led, audit‑grade clinical operations to your program so you can run an efficient trial, keep execution under control, and reach closeout with results you can put in front of your leadership, investors, and the FDA.