Curebase, a San Francisco-based clinical trial company, has let go of an undetermined number of employees in a pivot away from decentralized and hybrid clinical trials to focus on software products.
“After much thought and market input, we have decided to sunset our full-service clinical operations business and focus our company efforts on our SaaS platform,” Tom Lemberg, Curebase CEO, said in a statement posted on LinkedIn. “We regret the turbulence our industry is experiencing, including staffing reductions at Curebase and many of our peer startups trying to make an impact in this space.”
Like others working in the virtual trial arena, the company has had to adjust to a changing market environment as in-person trials begin to ramp up again following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced on-site providers to curtail operations.
Curebase, which was founded by Lemberg in 2017, reeled in a $15 million series A funding in 2021 to support its decentralized trial efforts. The company had an estimated 82 employees prior to the layoffs.
"We can serve our customers better by focusing on software and making technology innovation our core competency," Lemberg said. "There is a mature ecosystem of sites, CROs, and vendors who stepped up during the pandemic and are ready to lead on DCT and Hybrid trial services."
During the pandemic, Curebase operated six different COVID studies using community-based “pop-up drive-through testing sites” across the country, turning them into clinical data collection machines at scale.