On 6 – 8 June, mdgroup sponsored the Decentralized Clinical Trial conference hosted by Informa, in Miami, Florida. The hybrid event was an opportunity for vendors, CROs, sponsors and patient groups to connect with clinical innovators who shared cutting-edge insights and best practices across the decentralised trials landscape.
As well as sponsoring the event, mdgroup’s Executive Vice President Caroline Jackson gave an informative presentation on the successes of an mdgroup hybrid trial, and the team had the opportunity to meet with other partners at the mdgroup exhibition stand.
Attending from the UK, Tom Brazier (Director, Decentralised Clinical Solutions) offers us his insight into the 3-day event and the importance of these conferences:
“Attending Decentralised Clinical Trials 2022 was a fantastic way to explore opportunities and key challenges for clinical trial design, whilst allowing us to conduct valuable conversations with other organisations in the trial space to see how we can work together to make the patient experience even more remarkable in the future.”
Tom highlights his four key takeaways from the event:
- The reiteration that mobile health services and other decentralised solutions should be included right from the start of a trial design, so they are built into the trial protocol and not added as an afterthought later to solve a problem that’s already happened
- The need to look at objective trial endpoint measurements, as well as subjective measures. This might include more integration with technology such as wearable tech, which automatically reports a patient’s health status rather than placing any additional burden on the patients themselves
- An overview of regulatory changes that affect country-specific guidelines was discussed, which is vital to ensure the smooth running of trials globally
- The importance of patient experience and designing decentralised clinical trials in a way that relieves the burden on patients as much as possible. This may include “point solutions” where vendors come together to combine their tracking or measurement elements for example into one app, to make it easier for the patient to engage
For Tom, the Decentralised Clinical Trial event helped to solidify his belief that the future of clinical trials is hybrid. He noted that:
“Most people see hybrid trials as probably the right solution to most studies, but where we’re heading is in fact a much more patient-centric version of trial solutions. I think the term
decentralised trials may even fade out eventually. Instead, all trials will be designed from the very start with a mixture of traditional and decentralised elements, giving patients choices to suit their individual needs.”
The conference was an excellent opportunity for mdgroup to start conversations, learn from others, and build the connections needed to ensure that mdgroup’s service to patients and research organisations remains at the cutting edge of trial technology and patient services.
We’re on a mission to deliver remarkable technologies and experiences for patients taking part in site-based and decentralised clinical trials. We support all sizes of pharma and biotech to create remarkable patient experiences in clinical trials. We support DCTs around the world, all underpinned by our latest innovations in healthcare technologies.
Let’s make your next study remarkable. Contact us now to discuss how.
