Decentralized trials are here to stay according to tech firm Thread, which has set up a consulting service to help drug developers make best use of the approach.
The service – known as Thread Adopt – is designed to provide the trial templates and tools needed to conduct decentralized triasl (DCTs) according to a spokeswoman, who told Clinical Insider the no-site model is increasingly popular.
“DCTs have grown in popularity and the volume of studies conducted in the DCT model within 50+ countries. A poll from ERT found that 82% of trialists reporting their organizations are using virtual trial approaches, up from 33% prior to COVID-19.”
She added that “DCTs have become the new standard operational model by providing the benefit of improved patient experience, greater diversity and inclusion, geographical convenience, etc.
“So the shift in the discussion around DCTs moves no longer from “why DCTs” but “how to implement” DCTs across customer segments. Equally important to Thread Adopt is the change management process we support to drive customers toward global DCT adoption.”
Thread is not the only firm seeking to capture a share of the decentralized trial market, however, its enterprise-wide approach differentiates its offering from others on the market according to the spokeswoman.
“They are typically focused on a single/specific study, not the enterprise-level scale, adoption and change management-focused templates, tools and thinking required.
“Instead of providing training videos, we leverage our expertise in DCTs to personally help customers walk through the process, learnings, and insights that we have built with other customers to maximize their strategy to scale DCTs.”
DCT longevity
And Thread is confident demand for decentralized trials will continue grow after the pandemic as more companies recognize the benefits of the approach.
The spokesman said, “This is a new way of running modern, hybrid clinical trials not just because of the resilience for visits that were challenging during the pandemic, but the outperformance of traditional trials in patient recruitment and retention levels, inclusive data collection model, increased operational efficiencies, participant convenience and more.”
She cited Thread’s recent collaboration with a firm developing treatments for multiple sclerosis as an example, explaining that the challenge was collecting data from multiple patient taking in multiple studies worldwide.
“On a global scale, the sponsor required a flexible and scalable DCT platform that could meet the global needs of four studies taking place in 40 plus countries and Hong Kong, and in more than 30 languages, some with specific regional dialects.”
“The implementation of Thread’s DCT capabilities resulted in the rapid startup of 4 studies in 12 weeks from contract to go-live. We also successfully implemented technology that allowed active tracking and monitoring of data collected during Home Health visits that enable rapid detection of MS symptomatology changes and allowed for quicker decision-making.”
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