AbbVie is looking south to boost its community-based clinical trials. The Chicago-area pharma giant is partnering with Nashville-based Sarah Cannon Research Institute to run diverse trials for AbbVie’s novel cancer candidates.
The partners will leverage SCRI’s research network, with more than 1,300 physicians across 20 states, and SCRI’s physician leadership and contract research organization, SCRI Development Innovations, to drive the development of AbbVie’s assets, according to a May 28 release.
"Working together, we can expedite the development of more treatment options and transform clinical trial delivery, providing greater access to cutting-edge therapies for patients close to home,” SCRI CEO Dee Anna Smith said in the release.
The partnership will use SCRI’s Accelero operational model, which includes centralized screening services to improve the flow of patient identification and enrollment in trials. Accelero is meant to maximize site contributions, optimize site activation timelines and synchronize end-to-end clinical research management, SCRI said in the release.
Part of Accelero’s function is to capture data from electronic health records, according to SCRI’s website.
"Through close collaboration with SCRI and its community sites, we hope to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the treatment paths and health needs of patients living with cancer to provide tailored, patient-centered scientific solutions,” Svetlana Kobina, M.D., Ph.D., AbbVie’s vice president of oncology and global medical affairs, said in the release. “This partnership enables us to delve deeper into the challenges faced by medical oncologists, hematologists, patients and caregivers to help us design clinical studies that more accurately represent all patient communities.”