IBM Watson Unveils Cloud-Based Clinical Trial Efficiency Tech

IBM Watson Health launched its newest cloud-based technology IBM Study Advance which is designed to optimize clinical trial protocol design, according to a recent press release. 

Unveiled at the 11th Annual Summit for Clinical Ops Executives (SCOPE), IBM Study Advance is a data-driven study design tool that will merge automated real-world patient population data, standardize protocol template guidance, and provide a collaborative workspace designed for efficiency. 

“Currently 80 percent of trials experience delays in recruiting and one out of four amendments were considered completely avoidable,” Rob DiCicco,  deputy chief health officer of IBM Watson Health, said in a statement. 

The workspace is designed to improve clinical delays and allow for collaboration between study design team members who can assign individuals to specific sections of the protocol.

The design tool will also reduce the average clinical trial time by providing access to standard protocol templates and version control capabilities with complete traceability back to changes. 

Cost is a significant issue for clinical trials. A single protocol amendment to a Phase III clinical trial may total nearly $500,000 in unplanned expenses and add numerous days to the timeline. 

The new technology aims to reduce the stress of unplanned expenses and decrease the number of changes during clinical trials by bringing awareness during the study design process. Additionally, its interface will ensure access to commercial and claims data from over 89 million patient profiles and uncover the impact of inclusion and exclusion criteria on the patient population. 

“Breakdowns in the clinical trial process, including issues caused by study design decisions, may potentially delay access to life-changing therapies for patients. IBM Study Advance aims to remove the barriers in clinical development to help researchers efficiently bring necessary therapies to patients,” DiCicco said. 

Merging patient population health data comes with potential risks such as hacking or discrimination, but most patients believe that health systems would greatly benefit from gaining access to their personal health data. 

Ninety-three percent of clinical trial participants were willing to support health data sharing for various uses, according to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Most patients feel comfortable sharing their data to benefit research. Only eight percent out of 771 individuals surveyed voiced the negatives of data sharing.

More than 85 percent of respondents saw the positives of sharing health data, specifically for scientists in universities and other non-profit organizations. While 81 percent predicted physicians caring for patients would reap the benefits as well. 

Seventy-nine percent of participants said that they believed medical device companies would see a positive outcome from analyzing personal healthcare data, and 72 percent saw benefits for patients. 

“Our findings suggest that concerns about trial participants’ attitudes toward data sharing invoked by companies and investigators who caution against it may be exaggerated,” researchers emphasized. “Participants perceive data sharing to have many benefits, and most are willing to share their data.”