Celgene forms real-time, real-world trial partnership

Celgene has struck a deal to use real-time data from electronic medical records to inform the way it designs clinical trials.

It will work with TriNetX to support clinical study and protocol design, site selection and patient recruitment across a range of therapeutic areas and development stages.

Celgene's senior vice president of global clinical research development and operations Jay Kaminski said: “This collaboration is an important part of the innovations we have been making at Celgene to realise the power of data analytics within our clinical research organisation”.

He added: “TriNetX represents the future of a data-driven approach to clinical trial design and research.”

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based clinical data company has a healthcare institution network that covers over 37 million patients and its systems are set up to analyse patient populations across multiple search criteria.

They then use advanced analytics modules to provide data on which of these criteria have the most impact - including the rate that new patients appear.

While anonymous, the real-time data is traceable to individual patients and so allows clinical researchers to develop virtual patient groups, which can be recreated in a real world clinical trial setting.

Commenting on the partnership, TriNetX's chief executive Gadi Lachman said that the collaboration is a “win-win” for both firms, the network's institutions and patients worldwide.

“Our mission is to disrupt the clinical trial design space by unleashing the power of data that is currently locked away.

“Through our network, healthcare providers, pharma and contract research organisations can create strategic partnerships to improve clinical research and patient care, and we are honoured to have Celgene as part of our network.”