Watson rolls out toolset to streamline clinical study design
Healthcare AI giant IBM Watson Health has introduced software that can help medical researchers design clinical studies right the first time so as to minimize the need for tweaking and fine-tuning while their study is underway.
Called Study Advance, the cloud-based product allows users to access commercial and claims data from de-identified patient profiles covering 89 million lives from multiple employer-sponsored U.S. healthcare beneficiaries, according to a Feb. 18 announcement.
The software also offers tools for assessing the impact of inclusion and exclusion criteria on eligible patient populations.
In unveiling IBM Study Advance, the company cites an analysis showing around 80% of trials experience delays in recruiting and that 1 of 4 in-process amendments are “completely avoidable.”
Other research has shown that amending a single protocol in a Phase III clinical trial adds an average of $500,000 and 61 days to a trial’s timeline, IBM Watson Health notes.
“Breakdowns in the clinical trial process, including issues caused by study design decisions, may potentially delay access to life-changing therapies for patients,” adds Rob DiCicco, PharmD, the company’s deputy chief health officer.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.