It can be hard to stand out in the congested eClinical sector. Developing a tool based on the buzz topics of analytics and social networking helps. Being linked to high-profile conference TEDMED is a boon too. Fortunately for clinical software firm ViS Research Institute, it ticks all these boxes.
The Brazil-based brainchild of the former director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Strategic Global Trials Research Program, ViS is one of 48 firms in "The Hive" section at TEDMED 2013. ViS caught the eye of TEDMED organizers with its attempt to fix what it claims is a $10-billion-a-year problem--the failure to match trial planners with appropriate, effective research sites. In trying to fix site selection ViS has built a database of research centers, their capabilities and other metrics relevant to placing studies.
Anyone can currently register to use the system, but access to the more in-depth analytics costs $1,000. Using these premium features, clinical trial planners can view disease-specific analytics, such as the size of the patient population, on a country level down to individual research sites. A map interface shows where the most relevant research sites are located. Users can then zoom in to see the capabilities, recent trials and regulatory status of each trial site. ViS is populating the database by having research sites upload information and through the work of local experts. This global approach has been central to the way ViS works since it set up in 2010, and it already has people on the ground in the U.S., Germany, Brazil and India. Site selection is a global problem, so ViS has built a global footprint.
Others are trying to tackle the site-selection problem too, albeit using different approaches. CRO Covance ($CVD) analyzes data from its central lab and other sources to predict which sites are likely to recruit well for a particular trial. Big Pharma consortium TransCelerate, meanwhile, is working to standardize the process of site qualification information requests and build a database of clinical research center capabilities.
- here's the ViS release
- see the lineup at The Hive