Since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic, many clinical studies have experienced disruption in enrollment levels, or even stopped running altogether. This is due largely to the fact that many clinical trial companies still rely on traditional methods, including on-site patient visits and travel to testing sites, neither of which are nearly as feasible in most places during the pandemic. Additionally, patients with acute or chronic illnesses who are at a higher risk from the virus may be unwilling to participate in trials that involve any travel.
For oncology related clinical studies, a recent study by The Lancet showed a 60% decrease in new clinical trials for cancer treatments over the course of the pandemic.
Further, many investigators have been reassigned to more timely Covid-19 drug discovery trials, or to treating patients with the virus. Hospitals that once acted as clinical research sites are now less likely to have the resources to be able to do so, or are wary of non-essential traffic in a time of new strains and case spikes. The dramatic drop in clinical trials has plateaued, but still remains concerningly high.
How can we reverse this?
The pandemic has taught people in many fields how to adapt to working online, and the numbers make it clear that clinical studies should be no exception.
Our own Jodi Nicolli, Customer Success Manager, said it best: “The world of clinical research, in a very large part, came to a screeching halt because of the pandemic and the “in-person” model at medical facilities that this industry relies on. I’m so challenged that more virtual models did not erupt - this was the perfect opportunity.”
Clinical trial companies that offer assistance in running virtual clinical trials are now not only a viable path forward, but a necessary one. Our platform can help you move to virtual options that will be more appealing to your patient base, more efficient for you, and pull your trial out of the Covid-19 induced stalemate. Our patient recruitment services are personal to your study, and proven to work. We’ve referred over 100,000 patients and served more than 200 clinical research studies.
We deliver highly targeted and educated referrals, using our database of over 25 million patients from our health app network. Our ability to bring trials into the virtual realm can help you get your study back on the road, without sacrificing convenience for you, or your patients.
Want to Learn More?
Citrus is a fully integrated recruitment and retention software that fits any clinical trial and simplifies the implementation of patient engagement in your clinical trial. Whether you are already working with CTMS systems or not, Citrus is the perfect add-on to make patient interaction effective.
Since 2015, our team has been hard at work raising awareness of clinical trials across the globe. A Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ company and a graduate of the renowned Techstar program in New York, Citruslabs is at the forefront of patient recruitment and retention technologies. With over 3 million patients now recorded on our databases, our patient recruitment dashboard is fast becoming the most efficient method of trial recruitment.
Now a #1 health app in 17 countries, our Mindmate app is helping to revolutionize the way we think about healthcare. Mindmate “[takes] senior care into the digital age” (Forbes, 2018) by providing people with cognitive decline the essential tools to help them rebuild and maintain strong mental health. Trusted by millions of users, our health community continues to grow as the content available expands to the needs of individuals today.
With more than 200 research sites now using the Citrus platform to screen thousands of patients every month, researchers are now well on their way to finding new treatments for hundreds of different health conditions - something that just would not be possible without a technological solution. Make sure that your clinical trial is in the lucky 12% and turn that luck into guaranteed results with Citrus.
Check out what our customers have to say about us here.
And If you’d like to know more about how Citruslabs can help you recruit more effectively, get in touch with our team here.
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