While fully industry sponsored studies are generally ceded to independent IRBs (e.g. WCG or Advarra), there are some exceptions to this requirement, including when the UW serves as a statistical or data analysis center or when industry support is limited to provision of the drug or device under study.

Another scenario is when an investigator applies for an industry grant, whereby a company provides support for a project or program that was developed by a university researcher (i.e. investigator-initiated), and the company agrees to fund it, usually after a formal application and review process.

The UW-Madison IRB can review investigator-initiated trials (IIT) funded by industry grants and because these are similar to other external grants, there is no IRB review fee charged.

These are different than industry authored sponsorships, which are typically industry-initiated multi-site trials, where UW investigators are invited to participate in the trial. These are ceded to independent IRB, but if an exception has been made for this type of study to be reviewed by the UW-IRB, IRB fees will be applied (see the IRB fee schedule); if ceded to an independent IRB, reliance review fees will be applied.