Clinical Trials: Overcoming Challenges Of Remote Patient Testing

During the last decade, clinical trial designs and procedures have become much more complex, demanding more staff time and effort, and discouraging patient-enrollment and retention. Studies today have an increasing number of procedures including lab & blood work, routine exams, x-rays & imaging, questionnaire & subjective assessments, invasive procedures, heart assessment, etc.

In an effort to lower costs during the R&D phase, it is not surprising that the pharmaceutical, life science, and biotech sectors are eager to tap into ways to reach new and less saturated markets, both for patient trial supply and to serve those population’s needs. Conducting clinical trials in those emerging markets themselves is one way to potentially help achieve those goals. But moving in that direction is not without its own challenges, from the partnerships that may be required to enable the venture, to the supply chain challenges of supporting it, to the data gathering and analysis requirements it entails to ensure compliance with more mature markets. 

Point of Care Diagnostic Test platforms offer standardized results and a cost effective approach for clinical trial participants (patients) who:

• Live in remote locations or emerging countries
• Live in high population centers where transportation to a site is an issue
• Reside in a nursing home or homebound and unable to get to an investigator