RBQM Ops 2022 - Learnings from the WHO Solidarity Findings

Learnings from the WHO Solidarity Findings

SUMMARY KEYWORDS
trials, patients, data, technology, work, approach, important, site, thinking, future, investigator, create, world health organisation, pandemic, study, remote, platform, clinical trial, people, source

DUNCAN HALL:

Now in this final session on the section in central monitoring in later phase trials, we wanted to bring you some real-world examples where DCTs have made a real proven difference and to explore the future of data collection, and the implication of these methods may bring. I’m therefore delighted to introduce our next speaker Derk Arts. Derk is the CEO and founder of Castor, the technology company that's delivered more than eight and a half thousand studies across more than 3 million patients over 90 countries. During the pandemic, they worked with the World Health Organisation to deliver a really impressive project, but I'm going to let Derk tell you more about it. Derk welcome. Thank you and over to you.

DERK ARTS:

Everyone, my name is Derek Arts. I'm the founder and CEO of Caster, medical doctor PhD by training. Today, I'm here to speak to you about our learnings from working with the World Health Organisation during the pandemic. And some of the other work we've done carrying our vision for the future of data collection and clinical trials.

So, we have a busy job, I have two small children. So, it always be very difficult for me to find time to go to a to a site. And actually, it would probably be the reason to not participate in a trial. Being able to participate in a remote trial that is designed around my life where when I have time, I can go through some of these studies study activities I can get a recall, obviously will make it a lot more attractive and possible for me. So, for me, it's really about allowing sponsors and CROs to design a trial around in normal human life. And with that, actually making trials more representative. But again, it's a continuum. And not all trials are a good fit for that approach.

And so, I don't think we should be thinking about a future that is fully decentralized, that won't happen, I think we should be thinking about a future where technology offers flexibility, flexibility for Sponsors, flexibility for patients. And ideally, as a patient, I have the option to say I would like to go on site, or I would like to stay at home. What we've seen happen during a pandemic, the development of methodologies and technology, but also the increase in comfort around using these approaches.

And I want to talk a little bit more about what we've learned while working on those things. And one of the proudest moments for me, I'm, as I mentioned, the founder of Castor, and I'm a medical doctor, and I did a PhD. So, I'm very involved when it comes to public health and epidemiology and generating evidence that it's going to help the world or evidence that helps extend the human health span. And so, when we had the opportunity to work with the World Health Organisation, that felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

So, we ran the trial, the two solidarity trials with them, which were the largest trials WHO had ever conducted and up until that point, one to investigate vaccines and want to investigate therapeutics...