The Impact Of Digital Transformation In Clinical Trials

By Author: Giselle Bates
Total Articles: 38
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The pharmaceutical sector is always changing. With the pandemic increasing people's awareness and worry about their health on the one hand, but simultaneously avoiding hospital visits unless absolutely essential, digital/eClinical is becoming a more and more popular tool of healthcare delivery.

Clinical trials are one example of a field where digital is the new mantra. By digital transformation at various phases of clinical trials, pharmaceutical companies/sponsors may recruit and retain more participants while also gaining greater insights through data analytics. Participants stand to gain from the digital features as well since the trial becomes decentralized and self-assessment becomes easier, providing them with greater freedom, personalization, and precision.

Are the Opportunities for Digital Trials significant enough?

The global market for virtual clinical trials is expected to grow at a 5.1% CAGR from $7.4 billion in 2020 to $10.5 billion in 2027, owing mostly to growth in North America and the cancer sector. Government assistance and increased competition will boost the adoption of innovative ...
... technology for clinical research in the United States. Because of its enormous patient pool, among other variables, the Asia Pacific area has the greatest anticipated CAGR (6.2%).

The pandemic suspended or interrupted 80% of studies unrelated to COVID-19. A month following the outbreak, up to 80% of clinical trial subjects refused to attend visits on-site.
The US Food and Drug Administration released recommendations urging sponsors and researchers to assess whether it would be beneficial for study participants to continue participating in a trial or not and encouraged the use of virtual alternatives. During the pandemic, virtual consultations and eConsent were the most commonly used technologies.

Are the Opportunities for Digital Trials significant enough?

The global market for virtual clinical trials is expected to grow at a 5.1% CAGR from $7.4 billion in 2020 to $10.5 billion in 2027, owing mostly to growth in North America and the cancer sector. Government assistance and increased competition will boost the adoption of innovative technology for clinical research in the United States. Because of its enormous patient pool, among other variables, the Asia Pacific area has the greatest anticipated CAGR (6.2%).

The pandemic suspended or interrupted 80% of studies unrelated to COVID-19. A month following the outbreak, up to 80% of clinical trial subjects refused to attend visits on-site.
The US Food and Drug Administration released recommendations urging sponsors and researchers to assess whether it would be beneficial for study participants to continue participating in a trial or not and encouraged the use of virtual alternatives. During the pandemic, virtual consultations and eConsent were the most commonly used technologies.

While the preceding two are at opposite extremes of the spectrum, Hybrid Trials are currently the most common and recognized kind of digital testing. Faced with the urge to reap the benefits of virtual trials while also performing some treatments on-site, sponsors have turned to hybrid designs as the best of both worlds. By the use of technology and techniques that enable virtual trials, these studies enable sponsors to dramatically reduce the number of sites and the frequency with which patients attend them while still having physical locations to execute specific operations.

While the preceding two are at opposite extremes of the spectrum, Hybrid Trials are currently the most common and recognized kind of digital testing. Faced with the urge to reap the benefits of virtual trials while also performing some treatments on-site, sponsors have turned to hybrid designs as the best of both worlds. By the use of technology and techniques that enable virtual trials, these studies enable sponsors to dramatically reduce the number of sites and the frequency with which patients attend them while still having physical locations to execute specific operations.

The most difficult difficulty that conventional clinical trials encountered was budgeting, with the number of patients necessary to prove the effects of a medication being the biggest cost driver, followed by the number of clinic visits, which ranged from 2 to 166.3. Another key challenge for researchers is having an efficient digital data capture system and patient recruitment and retention. 8 out of 10 studies fail to recruit enough volunteers on time, resulting in delays.

Just around 10% of the initial volunteers in research finish them effectively.

DT Consulting, a Lifesciences consulting firm, created a Clinical Trial Digital Tracker using survey responses from 261 clinical trial sites around the world and discovered that while only 57% of all trials surveyed had some kind of digital intervention, the majority found its application in patient recruitment and patient adherence & retention.

Hence, while existing digital applications in clinical trials have begun to address important pain points, a considerable portion remains to be studied and deployed at scale.

In summation

As digital becomes increasingly essential in clinical trials, we should expect time-to-market to reduce as participants' confidence in trials grows, resulting in improved retention. While cross-platform data collecting and collation will make the lives of researchers and patients simpler, data privacy is another major worry, which is where technology comes into play.
While the road to fully decentralized trials is still lengthy, pharmaceutical corporations and contract research organizations have made great efforts toward digitizing trials.

However, not every tech partner can offer digital transformation services that match the demands of a modern clinical trial. Here is where Octalsoft steps into the picture.

With over 15 years of vetted experience in powering global clinical trials with cutting-edge technology, Octalsoft stands at the forefront of clinical trial digital transformation. With tools ranging from CTMS, IRT, RTSM, EDC, and eConsent, to name a few, you can rest assured that Octalsoft is the eClinical tech partner your trial needs.

Interested in finding out more about how you can leverage Octalsoft’s eClinical suite to usher in digital transformation for your next clinical trial? Book a demo with us NOW!