How do the sponsor and a contract research organization (CRO) differ in their roles?

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In clinical trials, the sponsor is the organization that initiates and funds the study and holds overall responsibility for the trial’s design, regulatory strategy, and ongoing oversight to ensure safety, data integrity, and compliance. A contract research organization (CRO) is a professional services vendor hired by the sponsor to carry out the trial’s operational activities—things like site management, monitoring, data management, safety reporting, and other execution tasks—under contract and under the sponsor’s direction and oversight. This arrangement lets the sponsor maintain authority over the trial’s strategic and regulatory aspects while the CRO handles the day-to-day execution.

So the best fit is that the sponsor funds and oversees the trial and designs the protocol and regulatory strategy, while a CRO conducts trial activities under contract with sponsor oversight. The other descriptions misstate who funds or oversees, or they oversimplify the CRO’s role.