As the world comes together to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, “people are rooting for clinical trials and the clinical trial professionals who make them possible,” says Pete Fronte, CEO at Altura. “This is a challenging and rewarding time for clinical research, as a few hundred thousand people will be needed for studies by the end of the year to bring forth a vaccine and other interventions quickly,” he adds. “Clinical trials are being recognized for their importance.”
To support clinical trial practitioners who are “out there on the front lines, especially with Phase II and III trials,” Fronte is focusing on giving back to the industry and supporting sites. Altura is offering its HCP Studies™ mobile platform for listing and finding trials free to all ACRP members/study sites as part of a broader effort to attack COVID-19 and help sites address enrollment delays for studies in other important areas such as cancer, neurology, and mental health. Since an estimated 200,000 clinical trials have been impacted with delays globally, many important non-COVID-19 studies will also need to address enrollment issues.
“Speed is key right now,” Fronte notes. “Studies need lots of diverse volunteers based on age, symptoms, ethnicity, surge cities, and comorbidities. The government’s Operation Warp Speed is addressing vaccine development and manufacturing hurdles, but it’s up to study sites to make the work happen from enrollment to the final visit.”
Altura is also supporting life science companies seeking to accelerate enrollment in cooperation with healthcare professionals based in study sites’ communities.
HCP Studies provides access to local and national (online) COVID-19 studies of all types. Currently listed are more than 80 COVID-19 clinical trials and observational studies. COVID-19 study examples include those focused on vaccine treatment, symptom treatment, prevention treatment, impact on mental health, telehealth, safety in pregnant and post-partum women, antibody testing, pediatrics, healthcare workers, the elderly, and underserved communities.
There is no cost to use HCP Studies™, and it’s available on the Apple App and Google Play app stores as well as a in a desktop version. Sites, healthcare professionals, and research professionals can use the app anytime. A patient-focused version is also available. Users can easily view studies, share studies, and contact site teams as needed.
ACRP members/study sites can add information about up to two of their more important studies at no cost as part of the ACRP/Altura collaboration. For those who would like to add studies, please e-mail support@alturastudies.com. To learn more and to get download options, go to https://alturastudies.com/hcp-studies/.
Author: Michael Causey
