Sanofi teams with Flatiron to reimagine data transfer in cancer trials
Sanofi has called on AI developer Flatiron Health to help it find better ways of designing and managing data transfer in cancer drug trials.
The partnership – financial details of which were not disclosed - will focus on improving clinical trial data acquisition, delivery, and quality through technology that transfers data captured in electronic health records (EHR) directly into an electronic data capture (EDC) system.
According to Flatiron, by using the approach, Sanofi trial sites will be able to reduce time spent on both manual, high-volume data entry and downstream data resolution issues.
Teaming up with Sanofi for trials is a logical step for Flatiron according to Alex Deyle, the firm’s general manager of clinical research, who cited US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines – published in 2018 - on the importance of technology interoperability in trials as key.
“Flatiron’s expansion into the clinical research space is a natural progression for us. With the FDA’s guidance on interoperable technology that allows electronic transmission of relevant EHR data to the EDC system, we knew we had an opportunity with Flatiron Clinical Pipe to unlock the potential of data captured in the EHR, reduce the burden of clinical trials and accelerate research timelines.”
AI collaborations
Sanofi has already used Flatiron’s technology. The study – conducted in February – saw the drug firm transfer half of all data from the HER to the EDC.
Flatiron is not the only AI firm working with Sanofi, which has already spoken about its collaborations with companies like Owkin, Exscientia, Atomwise, and Insilico Medicine.
Deyle hinted at other collaborations with the drug research sector, adding “We’re incredibly excited to collaborate and partner with forward-thinkers like Sanofi, who share our aspiration to leverage data and technology to transform clinical research.
“We look forward to working with the industry to solve a variety of challenges in the clinical research space—for the benefit of sponsors, CROs, sites and ultimately, the patients.”
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