Clinical trials are time-consuming and expensive. This is mainly because the patients must travel to a centralized location for monitoring. This approach is limiting for patients with mobility issues and those living in remote areas. Therefore, instead of primarily focusing on centralized trials, CROs like Veristat and small companies can utilize clinical trial consulting and transition to decentralized trials. Decentralized trials offer a lot of flexibility and solutions to most of the problems faced by traditional trials, and here is how,
Reduced site monitoring costs
Centralized trials incur a lot of costs during monitoring. This is because the investigators have to travel to the site’s location. Decentralized trials, also known as virtual clinical trials, are structured for remote monitoring. This means that the study investigator and sponsors have to use special devices from a central location instead of going to the leading study site to get information about the study. Remote monitoring reduces the need for on-site visits, saving time and money. Also, the process of collecting data can be sped up, making it easier to collect and analyze data in real-time and reducing the number of mistakes that can happen when data is entered by hand.
Increased patient participation
Decentralized trials promote patient engagement. They eliminate the need for constant travel to the trial site, which is often expensive for the patient and inconvenient for those with mobility issues. In addition, decentralized clinical trials allow for fair representation by recruiting from a more extensive and diverse patient population. This leads to more meaningful and accurate research data. This is mostly because patients from far away can take part in the trial without leaving their homes or taking time off from their regular lives and responsibilities. By eliminating the need for patients to travel to a trial site, decentralized trials can reduce the time it takes to enroll patients, leading to faster study completion times. Also, since the patient doesn’t have to travel to a central location, the risk of being taken advantage of is lower, which gives the patient more freedom and trust. This helps with future patient recruitment by improving the reputation of the trial.
Improved data quality
Decentralized clinical trials use new tools and devices, such as wearable devices, to collect data. Such technologies provide more accurate, real-time data, as there are fewer errors and the data is less likely to be lost. This improves the quality of the data, allowing researchers to draw meaningful conclusions. Also, the data is more accurate and reliable because the patients are collecting it in their own homes.
Reduced study start-up time
Lastly, decentralized trials help speed up the study’s start-up time. They eliminate the need for site selection and the acquisition of needed infrastructure. Once the patients have been recruited, the trials can be up and running, reducing the time it takes to start collecting data.
Decentralized trials offer a flexible solution to the significant problems faced by centralized trials. Leveraging technology for virtual trails, data collection, monitoring, and analysis can help improve the efficiency of the drug development process.
