How tech solutions can support the UK’s Life Sciences Sector Plan and reboot clinical trials
By Steve Sanghera, co-founder and CEO, Inventus Group
The UK Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan sets a clear ambition for the UK to be the best place to discover, test and scale new treatments.
A £600 million investment in advanced health data infrastructure, commitments to cut red tape, and an NHS technology passport to roll out proven tools faster are some of the priorities.
If the UK wants to hit the target of study set-up times of 150 days or less, the hard work now is not only regulatory – it is technological, and it starts with innovation and keeping the patient experience at the heart.
It is reported that only 20 per cent of clinical trials ensure complete data accuracy, pointing to systemic gaps in how clinical trials are currently able to collect and reconcile data across sites and systems.
Additionally, approximately 40 per cent of trials face material data quality issues that require remediation, adding cost and time.
Therefore, it is unlikely surprising that around 80 per cent of clinical trials fail to meet initial timelines.
Steve Sanghera
These are not marginal inefficiencies. They are the difference between a study that recruits on time and one that stalls.
Demand for timely, inclusive research is rising sharply.
As recently as August, One Cancer Voice warned that by 2040, one person is projected to be diagnosed with cancer every two minutes in the UK – underscoring the need to compress the path from clinical trial to patient benefit.
Faster set-up will only translate into faster outcomes if the data flowing through trials is trustworthy, secure and ready for analysis in real time.
How technology can support the mission
An issue with most clinical trials currently is that they are being conducted by giving the patient a mobile phone handset, which can create many technical and supply chain challenges.
While amazing products, they are not built for the design of clinical trials and can struggle to meet the specific technical requirements.
Clinical trials require consistency, controlled software management, and robust security – standards that are difficult to maintain with technology built for the mass consumer market.
For example, mobile phone updates can result in corrupted data, therefore meaning the data can no longer be used in the clinical trial – a hugely costly impact to the trial and delay.
The average length of a clinical trial is more than four years and there are many that can last a decade.
The consumer market will change its devices every year, but clinical trials don’t want that. They want consistency for good reasons.
What is needed is bespoke technology solutions for clinical trials – a solution that can last for the lifespan of the clinical trial, provide consistent data capture, global accessibility and the ability to manage the device from anywhere in the world. While always ensuring the patient experience remains at the heart.
That’s what I founded Inventus to achieve and so far, we’ve deployed over 500,000 devices designed and built specifically for clinical trials.
The Government’s commitment to Life Sciences comes at an exciting time in our journey and for the industry as we see a huge demand for innovation and solutions like ours.
It is critical that together we create technology solutions that help to save lives, and we’re on a mission to support the UK in achieving its goal in becoming a leader in the Life Sciences industry.
