Sarah Cannon Research Institute announced a collaboration with Merck to run oncology studies through Accelero, the delivery model SCRI uses to open and staff trials at community sites. The announcement carries operational performance figures drawn from SCRI's own assessments and names no study, phase, tumor type or financial term.
- Announced: Aug. 13, 2026, from Nashville, by SCRI, with Merck as the sponsor partner.
- Mechanism: Accelero, covering EHR-to-EDC data transfer across portfolios, accelerated site start-up and enrollment support on high-priority studies.
- Claimed performance: site activations up to 50% faster than traditional operations and enrollment rates 19% above what SCRI calls a 7% national average, with select industry partners.
- Data quality claim: 95% fewer data changes than traditional clinical research coordinator entry.
- Network: about 1,500 oncology physicians at more than 200 locations across more than 20 states, and over 900 first-in-human trials since inception.
- Not disclosed: the studies covered, their phases, the number of sites, and any financial terms.
Accelero packages trial operations across a sponsor's whole portfolio
Accelero is SCRI's packaging of trial operations for sponsors: a fixed operating model applied across a portfolio instead of study-by-study negotiation with each site. The elements SCRI lists are electronic health record to electronic data capture transfer, faster site activation, and targeted enrollment support on studies a sponsor flags as priorities. Jennifer Coppola, associate vice president and regional head for global clinical trial operations of North America at Merck Research Laboratories, described the intent in the announcement.
At Merck, we are focused on advancing research to better understand cancer and potential therapeutic approaches. By leveraging the Accelero delivery model, we have the potential to reach patients faster, reduce protocol complexity, and make oncology clinical studies more accessible in the communities where patients live.
Dee Anna Smith, Chief Executive Officer of SCRI, said in the same announcement: "Together, we are committed to accelerating trial delivery, reduce operational friction, and bring research to patients." SCRI describes itself as one of the largest oncology research organizations running community-based trials, with roughly 1,500 physicians across more than 200 locations in more than 20 states and more than 900 first-in-human studies to its name.
The performance figures and the footnote attached to them
SCRI says that with select industry partners Accelero has delivered site activations up to 50% faster than traditional operations, enrollment rates 19% higher than the 7% national average, and 95% fewer data changes than the traditional process of clinical research coordinators keying data by hand. A footnote qualifies all of it: the figures come from publicly available sources and internal SCRI study assessments as of July 2026, and are subject to change based on study-level operations. No comparator sponsor, study set or method accompanies them.
Disclosure: APO|APE News is owned by the partners behind the APE|APO Event Series, whose program faculty includes Vivek Subbiah, chief of early-phase drug development at Sarah Cannon Research Institute.
What the announcement leaves open
Nothing in the release identifies which Merck studies move into the model, whether they are early-phase, registrational or both, or how many of SCRI's 200-plus locations will take them. No matching announcement appears in Merck's own newsroom listing. Trade coverage of the collaboration sits behind pages that block automated retrieval. Everything here comes from the SCRI release.
Why This Matters to the APO|APE Reader
Coppola's stated aim of reducing protocol complexity is the part with teeth at the site level, because every eligibility criterion that demands central pathology review, fresh tissue collection or a specialized assay becomes work a community practice has to absorb before it can enroll anyone. EHR-to-EDC transfer moves the burden in the other direction, onto whatever the record already holds, which makes structured capture of stage, biomarker status and prior therapy the limiting variable. With no studies named, neither the tissue requirements nor the testing footprint of Merck's portfolio inside Accelero can be assessed yet.
