Exco Intouch's recent electronic patient reported outcomes (ePro) seminars highlighted the shift from traditional methods of data collection in clinical trials towards electronic methods.
The seminars, entitled 'The Complete Patient Experience Throughout the Trial Lifecycle', took place in Philadelphia and London and demonstrated the benefits of using electronic technology (for example cell phones) for patient recruitment, retention and compliance during clinical trials.
The half-day seminars were co-hosted by Exco Intouch and ERT, a provider of centralised ECG and eClinical technology, ePro and other services to the biopharmaceutical, medical device and related industries.
Seminars in the London and Philadelphia venues were attended by more than 40 delegates from pharmaceutical organisations and CRO companies.
The seminars addressed the impact of new communication technologies on patient engagement in clinical trials and how these technologies have revolutionised data-collection for pharmaceutical companies.
Several industry leaders attended the seminars to conduct discussions on the application of these methods for clinical trials, including a keynote address from Dr Ken Kaitin, director and professor of medicine at the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, at Tufts University, Massachusetts.
Dr Kaitin is an expert on the science of drug-development processes in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.
His address, entitled 'Pharmaceutical Innovation at a Cross Roads: Economic and Political Perspectives on New Drug Development Process', explored the current economic, regulatory and political challenges in developing new pharmaceutical products.
Representatives from global pharmaceutical-companies also participated in the seminars, including Mahnaz Asgharnejad, vice-president of clinical development at Cenerx Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company that is developing treatments for diseases of the central nervous system.
Dr Asgharnejad discussed the application of ePro to facilitate patient selection and monitoring in clinical trials.
During the seminars, Exco Intouch's representatives demonstrated through case studies how their portfolio of communication-based technologies benefits pharmaceutical companies by improving patient recruitment, retention and compliance throughout the clinical-trials process.
The seminars highlighted how using methods of electronic communication to retrieve confidential patient information greatly improved the speed, accuracy and integrity of data.
Copies of the seminar presentations are available from Exco Intouch.
