Medable rolls out decentralized trial tech it claims can speed recruitment and cut sites
Medable claims its digital certification software and training program can help drug firms and CROs take full advantage of decentralized trials.
The Californian firm unveiled the technology last week, positioning the software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform as an “an industry-first digital certification program.”
CEO Michelle Longmire cited growing sponsor and CRO sector interest in decentralized trials – driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic – as the driver for development of the technology.
“Over the past year, we have collaborated with our partners to answer the critical question: How do we empower our organizations with the skills required for this new era of research?” she said.
“It has become clear that biopharma is embracing decentralized trials, and leading companies want to ensure their teams have skills to execute best-in-class clinical development,” Longmire continued, explaining Medable aims to enable next-generation clinical research at scale.
The technology – which has been trialed in more than 60 countries via more than 150 decentralized and hybrid clinical trials to date – facilitates the sharing of best practices.
It is designed to be flexible to allow it to keep up with the evolution of the decentralized model. The intention is to replace siloed systems with integrated digital tools, data, and interfaces to accelerate trial execution.
According to Medable the approach can reduce patient enrolment timelines by half and cut the number of sites needed by up to 75%.
PPD partnership
US CRO PPD has been working with Medable on development of the platform according to Niklas Morton, senior vice president of PPD Digital, who welcomed the launch as a positive move for the wider sector.
“Our two companies have collaborated on nearly 70 digital and decentralized trials,” Morton said.
“Those learnings and best practices will outlive the COVID-19 pandemic, and this SaaS model will allow PPD to deliver all services required to help more customers adopt and operationalize decentralized approaches, ultimately making it easier for patients to participate in the clinical trial process.”
Image: iStock/Andrii Yalanskyi