France-based services provider Median Technologies has signed an agreement with global pharma company Sanofi ($SNY) to provide interpretation and management services along with software for medical images in a Phase II cancer study.
Median LMS is a software platform designed to help evaluate a patient's response to cancer treatment. It has automated and semi-automated image processing capabilities within a standardized workflow, and can transfer electronic imaging data in real time from investigator sites to independent review sites, which has the potential to speed up the whole review process. It is part of Median CTIS (Clinical Trial Imaging Services), designed to manage the imaging component of clinical trials from beginning to end.
The study is at 65 sites in 15 countries, and is likely to enroll 150-200 patients. By using Median Technologies' Median LMS platform at all 65 study locations, Sanofi will be able to use the same image interpretation tools at all study sites and for all independent reviewers. According to Median Technologies, this is the first time this has happened in a clinical trial.
In clinical trials, errors can creep in when different groups and sites use different software, which can skew the results and could even mean the difference between approval and rejection by a regulatory agency. Standardizing the software should iron out image interpretation issues, so that the drug then stands or falls on its own merits.