Technology’s impact on how clinical trials are managed is profoundly changing how treatments move from research and development to market. This seismic change impacts everything from patient recruitment and retention to study design and execution, as well as affecting compliance and reporting results. Understanding how these trends shape the trial management process can help you successfully navigate this changing landscape.
Here are eight technology trends changing the pharmaceutical - and thus clinical trial - space.
8 Tech Trends Impacting Clinical Trial Management
Data Accessibility
One critically important trend that’s coming into focus for drug makers is that patients are increasingly taking control of their healthcare decisions and expectations around treatment options. As a result, they now have more access to information than ever before – including data on both existing approved therapies and experimental drugs through online patient support groups, online media, and social networks.
This access to information has empowered patients to be more informed about the different options available to them, which in turn helps drive greater involvement in their clinical care decisions and trial involvement.
Artificial Intelligence
Another key trend driving change in the clinical trial space is the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI). Traditionally, AI was used primarily for data analysis and machine learning. Today it’s being applied across various aspects of drug development – from reducing costs, improving patient outcomes, enhancing early-stage research and streamlining trial processes.
For example, using AI to predict issues or potential adverse events during clinical trials can help reduce development timelines while also improving patient safety.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
In addition to AI, other emerging technologies are having a major impact on clinical trials – namely, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). These immersive technologies have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of the drug development process – from patient recruitment and engagement to improving study design. For example, VR may help enhance patient comprehension and retention by immersing participants in simulated environments that mimic trial processes. On the other hand, AR could be used to enable remote monitoring of subjects during home-based trials.
Blockchain Technologies
Blockchain technologies are also poised to disrupt the pharmaceutical industry. The use of blockchain in clinical trials offers a number of advantages that can help increase both transparency and data security. As an example, by creating a distributed ledger for each trial participant’s clinical data, it would be possible to share this information with authorized parties – such as patients and researchers – while still maintaining confidentiality. In addition to these benefits, blockchain could also help pharmaceutical companies streamline clinical trial management processes and improve patient retention rates.
Cybersecurity
While each of these trends offers tremendous potential for improvements in clinical trials, it’s essential to keep in mind that they also bring new challenges and risks. As drug makers continue to embrace innovative technologies and processes, the need for proper data security has never been greater.
Ensuring that appropriate cybersecurity measures are in place will help avoid potentially devastating data breaches – such as those that have recently occurred at some major pharmaceutical companies.
Continuous Drug Production
Continuous drug production, also known as continuous manufacturing, is a newer methodology that enables the creation of pharmaceuticals in large quantities at any time. In contrast with traditional batch production methods that take weeks or months to complete, continuous processing allows manufacturers to produce drugs continuously and more quickly.
Due to their shorter development timelines and lower cost structures compared with legacy pharmaceutical companies, innovative biotechnology firms are taking charge of this initiative. However, even traditional drug makers are beginning to explore adopting this new tech.
This trend will lead to an increased number of generic drugs becoming available and further price pressure on branded medications already in the market. Additionally, as biopharma companies invest significantly in R&D for biosimilars (generic therapeutic proteins), the potential for these drugs to become available more quickly will also increase.
Telemedicine
The use of telemedicine in clinical trials has been steadily increasing throughout the last few years, and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. With its ability to reduce clinical trial timelines by bringing together patients and physicians at remote locations, this tech trend is likely to become increasingly prevalent in pharma R&D.
As drug makers continue to refine their approaches using virtual physician consultations, they are expected to realize more cost savings while simultaneously improving patient outcomes. Moreover, as new regulatory rulings enable medical device and smartphone companies to directly market their products for clinical use, the potential for telemedicine to become an integral part of clinical trials will only continue to grow.
Big Data
In recent years, big data analytics have begun playing an increasingly important role in driving advancements in healthcare. As pharmaceutical companies leverage this technology to mine patient data and generate insights into disease progression, they may be able to predict drug efficacy and safety earlier in development more accurately.
Additionally, by using historical trial data along with real-world evidence from electronic health records (EHRs), researchers can gain valuable information on how patients managed their conditions outside of clinical research settings – and ultimately design more effective clinical trials. By embracing big data analytics at all stages of R&D, drug makers can gain valuable insights that may help them streamline the trial design and enrollment process and improve overall study execution.
Overall, there are several exciting tech trends currently reshaping the space While these trends present new challenges for clinical trial managers, they also provide an opportunity to deliver life-changing drugs and treatments more quickly than ever before. By proactively addressing these risks with appropriate technology measures in place, clinical trial managers can confidently navigate this changing landscape and successfully advance their trials through development and onto the market.
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What does this mean for you?
Our clinical trial solutions enable sponsors and CROs to effectively manage large, complex trials. We allow you to reduce operational costs, eliminate data entry errors & increase the speed of decisions with one centralized platform that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Our intuitive interface is designed to enable users to quickly understand their roles and responsibilities while taking advantage of automated processes.
The result, more efficient processing, a stronger ROI, and a better quality of life for your workforce.
Learn more about Cloud Concinnity and schedule your demonstration today.