The ICH guidelines on Good Clinical Practice (GCP) E6, particularly Section 5, require the establishment of quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) procedures for clinical trials.
It is the sponsor's duty to develop and uphold QA and QC systems, which should be governed by written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These systems are designed to ensure that clinical trials are conducted, and that data is generated, documented, and reported in accordance with the protocol, GCP, and relevant regulatory standards. The quality management system should incorporate a risk-based approach to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of these processes.