Bristol Myers Squibb is expanding a partnership with oncology organization Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI), tapping into the institute’s community-based clinical trial network.
BMS will plug its cancer pipeline into the SCRI’s Accelero platform, which is designed to match trial sponsors with sites from the SCRI’s network and provide access to patient data and health records.
In an earlier part of the collaboration, study startup time was 45% lower in eight BMS trials that used SCRI sites, the research org said in a Nov. 12 release.
“At Bristol Myers Squibb, we recognize that accelerating clinical trial enrollment requires not only scientific innovation but also operational innovation. This includes a deep commitment to equity and inclusion, while we look to accelerate overall patient enrollment,” Mokash Sharma, head of global development operations at BMS, said in the release.
“By leveraging data-driven strategies through our collaboration with Sarah Cannon Research Institute, we’re working to ensure that more patients—especially those from medically underserved populations—have access to vital cancer research advances in their communities,” Sharma continued.
The SCRI’s network includes more than 1,300 doctors spread across 20 states. The goal of the team-up is to bring top-notch cancer research to where patients live. Travel has long been recognized as a burden for patients participating in cancer trials and can be an especially strong barrier for patients from low-income or historically marginalized backgrounds.
The Nashville, Tennessee-based SCRI recently endeavored to standardize its clinical research on a single platform from Veeva Systems and also solidified a deal in May to run diverse clinical trials for AbbVie’s cancer candidates.