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Decentralized clinical trials continue to gain ground

[Photo by Laura James from Pexels]

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to fundamental changes in how pharmaceutical companies and physicians interact with patients.

And yet — for all of the talk about digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized clinical trials in medicine in recent years — the adoption of those concepts has lagged. “The reality is that we’ve gone after shiny objects in many places,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, chief medical officer of Sharecare (Atlanta, Ga.).

The situation is, however, swiftly changing thanks to the pandemic. Some 44% of pharma, biotech and clinical research professionals have already adopted remote patient monitoring (RPM) or plan to do so in the next 12 months, according to a recent survey from VivaLNK (Campbell, Calif.). Almost two-thirds (65%) of survey respondents reported the pandemic was the primary driver of RPM adoption.

Physicians have w…

How continuous glucose monitors have transformed the diabetes landscape

G6 applicator image from Dexcom

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are among the most potent diabetes management tools to emerge in recent decades.

FDA approved the first professional CGM in 1999, and the technology has evolved swiftly since then. Current models beam data via Bluetooth to smartphones (plus the Apple Watch) and the cloud, enabling patients to explore their blood glucose readings in an app or via downloadable PDFs.

“Decades ago, we were still checking urine sugars,” said Dr. Egils Bogdanovics, a Connecticut-based endocrinologist. “In the early 1980s, fingerstick blood glucose monitors came out. That was a big deal — a revolution in diabetes,” Bogdanovics recalled.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Delivery Business.

How continuous glucose monitors have transformed the diabetes landscape

Dexcom G6 sensor and applicator [Image from Dexcom]Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are among the most potent diabetes management tools to emerge in recent decades.

FDA approved the first professional CGM in 1999, and the technology has evolved swiftly since then. Current models beam data via Bluetooth to smartphones (plus the Apple Watch) and the cloud, enabling patients to explore their blood glucose readings in an app or via downloadable PDFs.

“Decades ago, we were still checking urine sugars,” said Dr. Egils Bogdanovics, a Connecticut-based endocrinologist. “In the early 1980s, fingerstick blood glucose monitors came out. That was a big deal — a revolution in diabetes,” Bogdanovics recalled.

But the fingerstick blood glucose monitor provides more of a snapshot than a moving picture. “About 15 years ago, professional continuous glucose monitoring was introduced. Initially, it was just endocrinologists [who used it], and we used it in what we called …