CVS Health’s, Medable’s clinical trial expands access to underserved communities
CVS Health and Medable are aiming to expand clinical trial access and engagement for patients at select MinuteClinic locations via Medable’s clinical trials software platform.
The two companies announced a collaboration, which will be managed by CVS Health Clinical Trial Services, that combines Medable’s software platform with the retailer’s community reach and experienced MinuteClinic providers to effectively deliver clinical trials in a way that improves patient access, engagement and retention to advance research effectiveness.
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“Our mission is to bring effective therapies to all patients, regardless of where they live, their social status or race. This collaboration intends to bridge research and science into communities with local access and experience that builds greater trust in health and medicine,” said Sans Thakur, chief growth officer at Medable. “Practical applications of Medable technology with the reach and experience of CVS Health gives us an opportunity to harness this time of change and respond differently to unmet needs in local communities.”
Both companies noted that despite the importance of clinical trials, less than 4% of Americans participate in clinical studies. Additionally, 30% of participants drop out before study completion, and 80% of studies do not meet enrollment deadlines. While industry efforts are making progress in closing the gap in African-American clinical trial participation, Asian, Hispanic and Latino groups also continue to be significantly and consistently underrepresented.
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“This dynamic collaboration with Medable will help us intensify our efforts to drive meaningful awareness and access to a broader population, in particular those with mounting chronic illnesses and the vulnerable populations who today are underrepresented in clinical research. Those populations often have limited access to health care, and therefore a greater chance of poor health and lower life expectancy. Over 40% of the vulnerable population in the U.S. lives within five miles of a CVS Pharmacy location, so we have a chance to engage them,” said Tony Clapsis, general manager and senior vice president of CVS Health Clinical Trial Services.
Since May 2021, CVS Health Clinical Trial Services has been working with key stakeholders in the biopharmaceutical industry and across the clinical trial ecosystem to design and deliver innovative approaches to research and real-world evidence generation. CTS was instrumental to help engage patients and facilitate trials for investigational COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. As part of this collaboration, CVS Health will continue to offer:
- Precision patient recruitment: Study population readiness that leverages advanced analytics, national reach and local community connections to drive awareness and engagement in clinical research for faster and more comprehensive trial recruitment, especially in hard-to-reach populations;
- Clinical trial delivery: Innovative, decentralized options for the delivery of Phase III/IV clinical trials and real-world evidence studies at designated MinuteClinic locations, in-home through its Coram home health services team, and virtually; and
- Real-world evidence generation: Retrospective and prospective studies that measure the impact of novel devices and therapeutics in real-world settings.
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“Coupling Medable’s software platform and experience with CVS Health’s national reach, analytics, and established clinical trial and care delivery teams and services will further enrich and accelerate our ability to make a difference in the lives of patients and support an improved clinical research process,” Clapsis said.
Where applicable, CVS Health will employ Medable’s clinical trial software platform to enhance patient access, engagement and retention while capturing required endpoint data and other information both onsite and remotely.