PI adds Optasia’s KneeAnalyzer to trial imaging service
PI, the eClinical solutions subsidiary of US contract research organisation (CRO) Parexel, gained access to the KneeAnalyzer through an alliance it signed with Boston, US based software developer Optasia Medical
Demand for this type of drug is expected to increase dramatically over the next few years as improving global life expectancies mean a greater proportion of people are moving into the age groups most affected by such conditions.
A recent Espicom survey predicted that the market value for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) medications will double to $27bn by 2015 which, if accurate, will mean a significant increase in the number of trials examining drugs for the condition.
Recognition of this trend was a key motivation for the alliance according to PI VP of medical imaging Kenneth Faulkner, who told Outsourcing-pharma that: “Knee pain is extremely common in the population, as a result of both aging and disease, such as osteoarthritis.
“The CDC estimates that six percent of all adults over age 30 suffer from symptomatic knee pain related to osteoarthritis and that 10 percent of those over 65 have symptomatic osteoarthritis at the knee. As a result, the interest in an accurate and precise measure of knee health is needed, both for research studies and clinical use.”
He explained that the software measures “knee joint space” as a marker of cartilage health which in “a medical-imaging based clinical trial, this capability allows Perceptive’s medical imaging experts to detect any changes faster and with fewer patients.”
