It takes about ten years for a new therapy to be developed and approved. This development is necessary for cost-effective treatments to advance illness and improve humans’ general health. However, a clinical research organization like Veristat faces many challenges from the initial stages, such as patient and site selection. These challenges prevent trials from achieving their millstones on time. As such, it is vital to develop strategies that can help overcome these challenges and accelerate the entire process. This post will look at how to speed up the clinical trial selection process.

Clearly outline your site selection requirements

It’s crucial to be clear on what your requirements are before you begin the site selection process. It allows for open communication and transparency, essential for effective selections. Additionally, communication promotes the development of good connections with all parties, some of which may be helpful to you in your future clinical trials. As a result, be specific about the kind of site you’re looking for. These requirements, which go beyond the SFQ, cover essential topics like prior enrollment performance, clinical research experience, access to patient populations, and familiarity with patient populations. Communication and transparency will help you acquire valuable feedback and help improve SFQ response rates.

Adopting virtual trials

Selecting a virtual trial is one of the best ways to hasten and overcome the difficulties of poor site selection. Virtual trials can significantly reduce the time and effort required for site selection. The ongoing drug development lifecycle now frequently involves virtual collaboration. These virtual trials allow patients to transmit remote, real-time data to the main study site. Virtual trials “essentially eliminate” the requirement for choosing, activating, and maintaining trial locations to run a trial from a patient’s home. In virtual trials, the CTMS (clinical trial manager) plays a key role by helping the trial personnel process the data collected from patients via wearable technology. These details could relate to a patient’s sleep patterns, blood pressure, and other factors.

Use technology

Technology is essential for both on-site and virtual trials. The entire trial process, from data collecting through trial execution, is made simpler by technology. Better tools enhance discussion while assuring reproducibility and clear communication of data. Site selection methods that rely on conventional methods are prone to mistakes. For instance, sponsors and CROs frequently use an SFQ (Site Feasibility Questionnaire) to acquire site information. However, SFQ limits sites from effectively highlighting their research capabilities. Sites that don’t fit the SFQ requirements are removed. However, the use of contemporary methods and follow-up dialogues can reveal that the location is capable and well-suited to do the study. Successful collaboration can be achieved with the right tools, such as more training resources, a feasibility study, and a centralized institutional review board (IRB).

Leverage past data and performance

Even though it’s easy to check a site’s past success, many research sponsors decide against investing the time and energy required. Predicting how your sites will perform in subsequent studies will be easier if you know how they have served in the past. Sponsors can significantly improve their chances of choosing an investigator site by keeping track of and comprehending the site’s previous data quality.

The best practice to speed up your site selection process all comes down to your challenges. If data collection is the main issue, then modern tools can help you overcome this issue. Similarly, if your challenges span patient inclusion and participation, then a virtual trial can be the best practice. Such trials allow for increased inclusion and participation.