PPD is working with Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) to speed up enrollment into cancer studies.
Using the CRO’s so-called Optimal Just-in-Time service (part of PPD’s Accelerated Enrollment Solutions business unit), it paired up with CTCA on its network of hospitals.
Working together, the two groups have “significantly shortened site activation time from as long as eight months to as little as two weeks … Metrics generated by CTCA demonstrate results that surpass traditional sites on the same trials when evaluating data currency, query rates, deviations and retention,” PPD said in a statement.
PPD’s approach here is based on establishing a community of sites with prenegotiated contracts and terms, which provides “immediate engagement by sites to search for patients.” It explains that patients are identified first, triggering the activation of sites and enabling patients to be enrolled within two weeks. As a result of the efficiencies of this process, there are zero non-enrolling sites.
“Our collaboration with CTCA demonstrates how we are changing the paradigm of cancer care,” says Krystyna Kowalczyk, chief operating officer for Optimal service offerings.
“Together, we are creating meaningful opportunities for cancer patients to participate in clinical trials and access innovative therapies close to home, allowing them to receive care within the context of their support networks in their own communities. Some 30% of the patients we enroll with CTCA are from under-represented populations, which reflects our goal of expanding clinical trial opportunities more broadly. Our goal is to enroll more patients from fewer sites in less time to support important oncology trials. Thanks to our JIT methodology, a two-week turnaround for first-patient-in is now possible.”