Optimised clinical research through decentralised trials

Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic bring lockdown rules and increased safety protocols, it also led to delays, reconfigurations, limited patient access, and other restrictions for life science research and development. However, one benefit is that it accelerated innovations underway to solve long-standing clinical process issues.

“The pandemic turbo-charged trial decentralisation,” says Caroline Redeker, senior vice president, corporate development at Advanced Clinical. “We were already incorporating home visits, ePRO, and other decentralised components. But when the new coronavirus hit, we had to find new ways of working with trial sites since they couldn’t see their patients in person, nor could we send our staff on-site to monitor.”

Leveraging pandemic insights and digital progress
The pandemic forced trial innovation across the board. “It completely changed how our clients and the agencies would let us work,” Redeker comments. “Instead of just for certain types of trials, we incorporated telemedicine and video broadly and increased other decentralised activities such as remote monitoring.”

In parallel, the pandemic accelerated digital advances that were already underway.

• Read the full article in pharmaphorum's Deep Dive digital magazine