Meski banyak vendor teknologi telah meningkatkan efisiensi riset klinis selama 20 tahun terakhir, inovasi ini terjadi dalam sekat-sekat fungsional.

Sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) fight a continuous uphill battle to reduce complexity, streamline business processes and workflows, ensure compliance and increase efficiencies in the pursuit of bringing drugs to market. Fundamental to this goal is a site-centric approach to conducting clinical trials.

During that whole process from clinical trials through postmarketing surveillance, companies carry out multivigilance – the monitoring and reporting of safety risks in new and existing life science products such as drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and combination products.

As COVID-19 spread across the globe, life sciences organizations were forced to quickly change their approach to clinical trials.

In just a few decades, clinical trials have changed dramatically. Twenty years ago, most of the data used in clinical research was entered on paper, but today it can come from sources as varied as sensors, smartphones, and electronic health records (EHRs).

Using a virtual, or decentralized, approach to clinical trials has the potential to improve patient experience and data quality while also accelerating the time it takes to get new drugs on the market. Although these benefits have been apparent for years, the COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent need to implement virtual approaches.