US firm launches online patient recruitment tool
web-based solution to help pharma companies overcome the challenges
of recruiting patients for clinical trials.
Patient recruitment is currently consuming around a third of clinical trial time - more time than any other clinical trial activity - and almost half of all study delays result from patient recruitment issues. Indeed, finding patients willing to participate in a drug trial is often difficult as individuals may be unaware of clinical studies, and other hurdles may also put them off. These delays are costing drug companies over half a million dollars for specialty products and more than $8m (€6.7m) for blockbuster brands in lost sales and are also causing the cost of running clinical trials to skyrocket. As a result, a growing number of companies are looking at developing solutions to tackle the issues related to the enrolment of clinical volunteers. BlueLithim has launched its new online tool in collaboration with morefocus group, another California-based company, which specialises in publishing online health information. "Historically, finding subjects for clinical trials has been a lengthy, expensive process," said Jay Webster, general manager of BlueLithium's Performance Network, the firm's performance marketing division, adding that the objective of the partnership is to ultimately change the paradigm. The solution includes support for every stage of clinical trial recruitment: lead generation, screening and providing retention and research tools and metrics. BlueLithium claims it has the ability to reach 119m users or 68 per cent of the US internet population and drive them to editorial content about specific disease conditions and treatment, which will be provided by morefocus. The two companies said this can enable pharma companies to locate and meet their targets for qualified trial candidates "in days or weeks, rather than months and years", by combining BlueLithium's reach with the morefocus content and screening platform. "The increasing cost and difficulty of completing recruitment in a timely fashion in the US has moved an increasing percentage of clinical trials overseas," said Colin Lucas-Mudd, morefocus CEO. "However, with over 85 per cent of US patients researching their condition online, it is now possible to reach, screen and recruit volunteers in North America with a proven web-based recruitment solution."
