Technology platforms shaping the way we run clinical trials

Four industry leaders reveal the technology that they think is most shaping the way trials are run and how beneficial it will actually be.

Technology is rapidly changing clinical trials in ways that few can predict, shaping the way they are being run on a monthly basis. It can be easy to blanket ‘technology’ as one single disruptive innovation, but there are countless platforms with countless uses. Any discussion on technology has nuanced benefits and challenges, and everyone working in the industry has a different view of how best to use it.

We asked four leading figures in clinical research which platforms they think are most shaping the way trials are run and how beneficial they will actually be.

Dr David Fajgenbaum - Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; Executive Director, Castleman Disease Collaborative Network

‘Social media and patient discussion boards have enabled patient advocacy groups and industry to identify large numbers of patients for clinical trials that were impossible to find beforehand.’

Matthew Zachary - Founder/CEO, Stupid Cancer

‘Platforms that put power in the user’s hands to address THEIR unique needs (not industry’s). Most platforms force users to follow inflexible paths and enter specific data. These approaches are designed around the developer’s needs, which can be very different from the user’s.

Smartphones are arguably the most important piece of technology in people’s lives. Yet no two people have identical information on their smartphones. The contacts, calendar, apps and how it’s organized are unique to every person. To change the game in clinical trials (and have any hope of becoming patient centric) platforms need to be designed for each person to create the unique configuration and information they need. Otherwise, we’ll forever be forcing people to use technology designed around someone else’s needs… and we’ll keep wondering why they don’t.’

Virgil Simons - President at Prostate Net Europa

‘Those vehicles that can effectively target and gain response from patient populations capable of true qualitative and quantitative detailing.’

Alexander Gissler - CEO, ProjectPharm

‘More and more data-driven platforms, that are extremely expensive, are promising to resolve all issues we are facing in clinical research. However, we believe these technologies are not going to deliver, but that human intelligence is going to be a step ahead at all times.’