Collaboration combines industry-leading decentralized clinical trial expertise with deep genomic insights to create home-based clinical trial model designed to expand patient access to clinical research

Science 37 and Foundation Medicine today announced a collaboration to enable decentralized clinical research in oncology that will optimize recruitment and enrollment, improve patient retention, and expand access to precision cancer care.

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It is estimated that less than 1 in 20 patients with cancer participate in clinical trials.¹ Further, more than 80 percent of clinical studies globally fail to enroll patients within the sponsor’s desired timeline.² Lack of participation in clinical research may hinder a patient’s ability to access the latest therapeutic options and slow the pace of treatment discovery.

As part of this novel offering, Foundation Medicine’s FoundationSmartTrials™ patient identification solution will be used to identify patients who may be eligible for a trial based on results from its tissue and blood-based comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) tests. Science 37 will then enroll the appropriate patients and provide ongoing support via its operating system—underpinned by its technology platform and specialized networks of mobile nurses, telemedicine investigators, remote coordinators and connected devices.

“Many advanced cancer patients are unable to travel to or visit in-person clinical trials sites, so it’s critical that we work across the ecosystem towards new and innovative solutions to improve access to clinical trials regardless of a patient’s location,” said Jonathan Cotliar, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Science 37. “Combining our operating system with Foundation Medicine’s precision oncology expertise sets us on an exciting path with the goal of accelerating treatment discovery while bringing the research directly to patients.”

This partnership builds on a collaboration between Foundation Medicine and Science 37 to provide decentralized trial services for Roche's ALPHA-T trial. The ALPHA-T trial seeks to assess the efficacy and safety of alectinib for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) positive locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors excluding lung cancer. This type of tumor-agnostic approach represents a ground-breaking advance in cancer treatment and demonstrates further progress towards achieving personalized healthcare for patients with these types of cancers.

“Beyond providing high quality genomic profiling to support informed decision making, we’re committed to empowering practitioners to act on those decisions by identifying personalized treatment options, including clinical trials. Through this partnership with Science 37, leveraging our combined assets and expertise, our goal is to improve access to clinical trials for patients who aren’t frequently able to participate,” said Brian Alexander, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Executive Officer at Foundation Medicine. “As we explore this decentralized approach to research, we hope to continue innovating on this model for other clinical programs in the future. Ideally, we’ll create a learning system where physicians and patients have more options, and their experiences help inform treatment for patients in the future.”

About Science 37

Science 37 accelerates clinical research by enabling universal access to patients and providers, anywhere. The Science 37 Operating System™—underpinned by an end-to-end technology platform and supported by specialized networks to enable trial orchestration—enables up to 15x faster trial enrollment, 28% greater patient retention and 3x more diversity. Science 37 and it’s Operating System can be configured to conduct the full clinical trial, act as a virtual site (known as Metasite™) or deploy its technology in combination with any of its specialized networks to enable flexibility across nearly any study design. Founded in 2014 as a pioneer in decentralized clinical trials, Science 37 has conducted more fully-decentralized, interventional clinical trials than any other provider and has the most complete Operating System. Learn more at Science 37, and follow Science 37 on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

About Foundation Medicine

Foundation Medicine is a molecular information company dedicated to a transformation in cancer care in which treatment is informed by a deep understanding of the genomic changes that contribute to each patient's unique cancer. The company offers a full suite of comprehensive genomic profiling assays to identify the molecular alterations in a patient’s cancer and match them with relevant targeted therapies, immunotherapies and clinical trials. Foundation Medicine’s molecular information platform aims to improve day-to-day care for patients by serving the needs of clinicians, academic researchers and drug developers to help advance the science of molecular medicine in cancer. For more information, please visit www.FoundationMedicine.com or follow Foundation Medicine on Twitter (@FoundationATCG).

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¹ Unger J.M., Cook E., Tai E., Bleyer A. The Role of Clinical Trial Participation in Cancer Research: Barriers, Evidence, and Strategies. Am. Soc. Clin. Oncol. Educ. Book. 2016;36:185–198. doi: 10.1200/EDBK_156686

² Desai. 2020 Apr-Jun 2020. Recruitment and retention of participants in clinical studies: Critical issues and challenges. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7342339/

Source: Foundation Medicine

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