CVS Health has navigated a pandemic that decimated footfall into its pharmacies but boosted demand for diagnostics and also saw it help pharma companies and CROs find trial subjects for COVID-19 tests.
It clearly liked this new role, and now, in a new chapter for the $118 billion company, it’s setting up its own study business to be known simply as Clinical Trial Services, with an aim of boosting recruitment and trial delivery as well as collecting more real-world evidence.
These will all be done by tapping its “local community” position, especially in recruitment and delivery, where it can use local resources to help boost awareness of trials while also opening up its stores for studies or to help facilitate “decentralized options for the delivery of phase 3 and 4 clinical trials.”
It will build on the recent experience of getting 300,000 subjects into COVID trials, with the new Clinical Trial Services business tapping CVS Health's expertise in both healthcare services and clinical research, including more than 200 in-home clinical trials, real-world evidence studies and support for publication of peer-reviewed articles.
“Traditionally low patient enrollment, diversity and engagement coupled with inconvenient trial sites, challenging study participation requirements, including the length of participation, show the need to improve the current model—particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Troyen Brennan, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer of CVS Health.
“Combining clinical trial expertise from across the CVS Health enterprise with our growing connection to the communities we serve, will help create a new clinical trial experience that works better for participants, health care providers, clinical research organizations and study sponsors.”