Thermo Fisher Scientific’s research business PPD has formed a decentralized study-focused partnership with Matrix Clinical Trials.
The collaboration – financial terms of which were not disclosed – will see PPD deploy Matrix’ mobile research sites and expert clinical staff across the US to help identify, recruit, and retain trial participants.
Under the partnership, PPD is the only clinical research organization (CRO) to use Matrix's virtual principal investigator network coupled with mobile sites as a stand-alone transportable clinical trial operation.
Tim Rich, Thermo Fisher’s vice president, Digital and Decentralized Solutions, Clinical Research, set the partnership in the context of the growing decentralized trial market.
"Mobile sites are a key component of our sought-after portfolio of hybrid and decentralized clinical trial capabilities. With Matrix's experienced teams of clinicians and ready-to-deploy mobile sites, we are able to reach a broader range of participants, including in previously under-represented and under-served communities, without requiring them to travel to traditional investigator sites far from their homes."
This sentiment was echoed by Thad Wolfram, president of Matrix Clinical Trials, who explained that the partnership built on a collaboration prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
"We have been enabling decentralized clinical trials and working together since the beginning of the pandemic, using our mobile sites as a critical component to diversifying clinical trial participant populations.
“As we've seen over the last year, these innovative offerings are providing a growing benefit across varying therapeutic areas to reach underserved and geographically diverse trial populations
Thermo Fisher and Matrix are also “exploring opportunities to expand the collaboration to additional geographies.”
Thermo Fisher’s stated aim is to use decentralized trials to “to increase patient diversity and access, and to improve the patient experience” in order to generate time efficiencies and data quality enhancements that reduce development timelines.
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