Optimal Just-in-Time, a service of PPD’s Accelerated Enrollment Solutions (AES) business unit, and Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) are collaborating to speed patient enrollment in oncology clinical trials, enhancing patient access to potentially life-changing therapies and saving time in drug researchers’ quest to conquer cancer.
Deploying the Optimal JIT methodology at sites managed by CTCA® has shortened site activation time from as long as eight months to as little as two weeks, allowing cancer patients to enter trials faster and enabling AES clients to reduce the time needed for study startup. Metrics generated by CTCA demonstrate results that surpass traditional sites on the same trials when evaluating data currency, query rates, deviations and retention.
“Our collaboration with CTCA demonstrates how we are changing the paradigm of cancer care,” says Krystyna Kowalczyk, chief operating officer for Optimal service offerings. “Together, we are creating meaningful opportunities for cancer patients to participate in clinical trials and access innovative therapies close to home, allowing them to receive care within the context of their support networks in their own communities. Some 30 percent of the patients we enroll with CTCA are from under-represented populations, which reflects our goal of expanding clinical trial opportunities more broadly. Our goal is to enroll more patients from fewer sites in less time to support important oncology trials. Thanks to our JIT methodology, a two-week turnaround for first-patient-in is now possible.”
The JIT approach is based on establishing a community of sites with prenegotiated contracts and terms, which provides immediate engagement by sites to search for patients. Patients are identified first, triggering the activation of sites, enabling patients to be enrolled within two weeks. As a result of the efficiencies of this process, there are zero non-enrolling sites.
“Our partnership with Optimal is the latest example of how CTCA is developing best-in-class partnerships, combining cutting-edge research and treatments with our Mother Standard of Care™ to rapidly implement a novel clinical trials strategy that enhances our already superior care model to serve our patients,” said Maurie Markman, M.D., president of Medicine & Science at CTCA.
AES is able to use its unique Optimal JIT methodology to augment traditional enrollment efforts. In addition to enrolling the first patient within two weeks, Optimal JIT’s enhanced enrollment practices provide clients with a diverse geographic distribution and a varied patient population using prequalified sites and patients to support the ongoing needs of the study.