Investors are pouring money into medical outpatient buildings just as pharma races to decentralize clinical research. The overlap is starting to look less like coincidence. When you look at the latest U.S. office numbers, it might appear that medical and pharmaceutical companies are retreating from real estate. Central business district towers are struggling with high…
Real-world data ties COVID-19 to preterm birth risks, spotlights gaps in lung cancer treatment
COVID-19’s grip may have loosened, but its effects on pregnancies linger in data showing higher preterm birth risks for infected mothers. A new analysis from Panalgo, a Norstella company, presented at ICPE 2025, used linked U.S. claims data to match COVID-positive pregnant women against controls. The data revealed a statistically significant increase in preterm deliveries;…
Early-phase study design considerations for long-term follow-up in vaccine clinical trials
Healthcare is one of the largest sources of “big data,” accounting for upwards of 30% of all data produced globally.1 Early on, the potential benefits of this data for healthcare outcomes were immediately evident. As that promise has begun to materialize, with the advent of AI and machine learning, real signals of improvement in therapeutic…
Complexity’s counterpoint: Understanding protocol optimization
In recent years, the clinical research landscape has been marked by a steady rise in protocol complexity with more endpoints and procedures across all trial phases and therapeutic areas. This trend, driven by the increasing sophistication of trial designs, is evident across trial phases and major therapeutic areas. Resulting in more endpoints and procedures on…
Merck taps Atropos Health to accelerate real-world evidence generation
Building on existing integrations with cloud leaders AWS and Google Cloud and collaborations with Arcadia and TD2, Atropos Health is now partnering with Merck. This new collaboration will tap Atropos Health’s GENEVA OS (Generative Evidence Acceleration Operating System) and related tools with the aim of speeding the generation of real-world evidence. Under the agreement, Merck’s…
2024: The year AI drug discovery and protein structure prediction took center stage—2025 set to amplify growth
The global AI drug discovery market, valued around $1 to $1.7 billion in 2023, will be worth a multiple of that by the decade’s end. Analysts project the sector could be worth $9 billion or more. 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Recipients: David Baker Demis Hassabis John Jumper Achievement: Computational protein design and structure prediction…
The return on engagement: How sustained community outreach is improving clinical trial representation
Abstract Despite a wealth of case studies and recent FDA guidance highlighting the advantages of community-level engagement in clinical trials, local clinics and research sites with access, trust, and experience in treating diverse patient populations are frequently overlooked and under-resourced in the drug development process. Lloryn Hubbard and Zoé Felicié, patient diversity experts at the PPD Clinical…
Why the pandemic is a crucible for clinical trial innovation
The rapid pace of development of COVID-19 vaccines and antibodies has redefined expectations for clinical trials. As SARS-CoV-2 variants such as Delta continue to fuel the epidemic, the industry must continue to ensure testing and clinical trials stay ahead of mutations. To get a clearer sense of what the ramifications of this accelerated development will…
The COVID-19 effect: Research platforms require new capabilities
Like a Category 5 hurricane, COVID-19 has uprooted traditional clinical trial methods to clear space for emerging models and practices to grow and flourish. Three related and complementary trends will have a profound and lasting impact. The shift to virtual/decentralized clinical trials. The popularity of decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) skyrocketed following the nationwide lockdown last March.…