Virtual Clinical Trials: New Technology Driven Approach for Better Patient Engagement

Virtual Clinical Trial (VCT) also known as the decentralized or remote trial is a new method of conducting clinical trials that take the support of advanced technologies such as electronic monitoring devices and apps along with web platforms. Virtual clinical trials are seen as an effective replacement for traditional clinical trials for overcoming its drawbacks such as delay in patient recruitment and time-consuming procedures. Additionally, VCT has lower drop-out, better compliance, operationally feasible, higher recruitment rates, and way faster compared to traditional clinical trials. Furthermore, rapid technological advancements in healthcare setup and cooperation among biotechnology & clinical research organization are the major factors driving demand for virtual clinical trials.

Eager to take the clinical trials process back on right track, pharmaceutical companies, tech start-ups, and researchers have continued working on the advanced model of virtual clinical trials. During the traditional trial process, patients require making frequent physical visits to hospitals or clinics, whereas virtual trials enable researchers to recruit patients, administer treatment, collect data, and monitor safety without leaving the home. Also, there is a tremendous increase in the volume of clinical trials along with increasing complexity, which boosts the need for R&D for new drugs and related products. In addition to this, the rise in the cost associated with the traditional trials making pharmaceutical firms look for new ways such as virtual clinical trials to reduce trial costs and improve its results. 

COVID-19 Impact on Clinical Trials Market

The COVID-19 pandemic has made a huge adverse impact on the traditional onsite clinical trials. Hence, different regulatory bodies across the globe have launched several programs for the development of innovative solutions to fast-track clinical trials. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an international clinical trial called solidarity for fighting against COVID-19. The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 forcing medical drug & device developers to again revise their approach to combat such type of crisis by implementing better clinical practices and adapting to virtual trials, creating new opportunities within the market even in the presence of COVID-19 pandemic.

The global pandemic caused by the coronavirus has made most of the countries impose lockdown thereby impacting businesses worldwide. There has been a huge demand for the development of vaccines and medicines to stop this outbreak. The surge in demand has led to an increase in the adoption of virtual clinical trials as such trials can be conducted virtually through an online medium. The VCTs mainly take out the burden from participants and staff to commute and hence minimizes the risk of infection. Such crucial advantages fueling the demand for virtual clinical trials market globally.

Major Benefits from Virtual Clinical Trials

• Improving patient retention ratio for trials by minimizing the patient burden to commute to physical sites.
  
  
• Fully-integrated and customized hybrid site model to offer comfort for patients, sponsors, and sites.
  
  
• Overcoming the barrier of COVID-19 restrictions and restoring ongoing clinical trials with better results.
  
  
• Highly cost-effective virtual clinical trials take out the need for heavy cost traditional clinical trials.

Key Activities in Virtual Clinical Trials Market

• Presence of leading players in offering services and positive government initiatives making North America a major shareholder in the global market.
  
  
• The interventional design segment is booming in the market on the account of the growing demand for digital clinical trials by researchers.
  
  
• Asia Pacific region market to take a huge leap in the coming future owing to the continuous rise in the patient pool and cost-efficient services.

The COVID-19 crisis has boosted the demand for virtual clinical trials on a larger scale. Companies from across the globe are aggressively involved in the research and development of virtual trial technologies to come up with the proper solution to fight COVID-19.

Deep-dive Insights on Virtual Clinical Trials Market by Polaris Market Research: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/virtual-clinical-trials-market