UCB to sponsor trials at ‘giant site without borders’
According to the strategic collaboration, UCB-sponsored studies will use Science 37’s mobile research platform, the Network Oriented Research Assistant (NORA), to offer "site-less" trials.
The decentralized "Metasite" clinical trial model engages with subjects remotely to encourage greater retention of participants and reduce recruitment times.
“Science 37 is made up of one-part in-house technology team, the rest is a decentralized physician network who connect directly to patients 24/7/375 using our proprietary mobile platform,” explained Science 37 CEO Belinda Tan.
“We think of ourselves as a giant site without borders,” she added.
The partnership will also help UCB-sponsored studies reach remote or underserved communities, we were told.
The first ‘site-less’ UCB trial for Paediatric restless leg syndrome (RLS) is expected to begin this year.
Strategic collaborations
Science 37’s Metasite platform is attracting increased attention in the clinical development space.
In December last year, Otsuka Pharmaceutical announced a strategic collaboration to explore the patient-centric trial method.
Additionally, in March 2018 Novartis – an early investor in Science 37 – committed to conducting up to ten clinical trials to scale up the "site-less" model.
