Press

We co-hosted a seminar and exhibited at our corporate booth at the 25th Conference on CRC and Clinical Trials 2025, held in Omiya . Both the seminar and the booth were a great success. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Kento Asano of the Clinical Research Center, Department of Future Medical Development, Osaka University Hospital, who served as the chairperson ; Ms. Yumi Matsui of the Clinical Trial Promotion Department, Business Promotion Headquarters, Future Medical Research Center, Tokushukai Group Co., Ltd.; Ms. Yuko Mae of the Clinical Development Management Department , Research and Development Headquarters, AstraZeneca K.K.; Mr. Shintaro Kaneko of the Site Solutions Division, IQVIA Site Solutions Japan, LLC; and Mr. Akihiro Oyama of the Joint Clinical Trial Promotion Office, Social Welfare Corporation Onshi Zasshi Saiseikai . We also deeply admire the excellent work of the National Cancer Center Hospital, who served as the conference chair and handled the extremely demanding tasks of preparing and running the conference. Next year’s conference chair will be the Kyoto University Hospital. All the Buzzreach staff look forward to seeing you again in Kyoto next year. The 26th Conference on CRC and Clinical Trials 2026 in Kyoto Date: Saturday, September 12th, 2026 – Sunday, September 13th, 2026 Conference Chair: Natsuko Omoto (Kyoto University Hospital, Japan Society of Hospital Pharmacists) Conference Venue: Kyoto International Conference Center

■ Details of the co-hosted seminar held
Seminar title: Medical Institution-led DCT will change the structure of clinical trials in Japan – Towards a future standard co-created by medical institutions and sponsors –

Details: Sunday, September 14, 2025, 12:20-13:20, Venue 2 (Sonic City Hall, 2nd floor small hall)

Chair ①: Dr. Kento Asano, Clinical Research Center, Department of Future Medical Development, Osaka University Hospital
Chair ②: Takateru Inokawa, CEO, Buzzreach Inc.

Speaker 1 (lecture/panel): Ms. Yumi Matsui, Clinical Trial Promotion Department, Business Promotion Headquarters, Future Medical Research Center, Tokushukai Group
Speaker 2 (lecture/panel): Tomoaki Uchino, General Manager, IT Headquarters, Buzzreach Inc.
Speaker 3 (panel): Ms. Yuko Mae, Clinical Development Department, Research and Development Headquarters, AstraZeneca K.K.
Speaker 4 (panel): Mr. Shintaro Kaneko, Site Solutions Division, IQVIA Site Solutions Japan LLC
Speaker 5 (panel): Mr. Akihiro Oyama, Joint Clinical Trial Promotion Office, Saiseikai, Social Welfare Corporation, Imperial Gift Foundation

In recent years, the environment surrounding clinical trials has changed rapidly, and patient-centered and efficient clinical trial models are being sought. In this context, Tokushukai Group is working to introduce “Partner Site Type DCT (Decentralized Clinical Trial)” in cooperation with clinical trial sponsors, utilizing the large-scale medical network that only group hospitals can offer.

In the past, when conducting clinical trials at multiple facilities, it was necessary to set up many facilities to accumulate cases, which caused major issues such as the burden of coordinating with the parties involved and the CRO costs.This time, Tokushukai Group is taking advantage of the network and collaboration system between hospitals or facilities to build a DCT scheme that limits the number of facilities in the same area, and is challenging to implement a new model that will contribute to cost reduction for the sponsor of the clinical trial.

Furthermore, to address the unique operational management and information sharing requirements of DCT, we have introduced a new digital platform initiated by the medical institution, significantly reducing the resulting complex workload and management effort. This seminar will explore how we have utilized digital technology to create a patient-friendly environment while minimizing the workload for physicians and CRCs. We will also discuss the preparation process, challenges, and practical efforts leading up to the launch of the system, from a medical institution’s perspective. In particular, we will discuss the coordination and operational challenges we faced in collaborating with multiple partner institutions and the solutions we used to resolve them. This project, based on the sponsor’s goals of “improving case accumulation” and “moving away from the traditional clinical trial implementation model,” is also an effort to realize a new clinical trial ecosystem that goes beyond institutional frameworks such as single IRBs and FMVs. As a medical institution, this challenge marks the first step in our efforts to collaborate more closely with sponsors and co-create a sustainable and valuable clinical trial model. We hope this seminar will provide practical tips and insights for medical institutions and stakeholders considering the implementation of DCT.

To realize a functional DCT operation on-site, it is essential not only to introduce technology, but also to design and implement it from the perspective of “whether the medical institution (site) can actually use it.” As an IT vendor, we were responsible for developing and supporting the implementation of a digital platform to reduce on-site operational burden and improve the efficiency of information sharing in the medical institution-led DCT implementation promoted by the Tokushukai Group.
In this session, we will share our process of not simply providing a system, but also constantly asking ourselves, “What is a digital tool that fits into actual workflows?” in close collaboration with medical institutions. In particular, we will introduce examples of how we designed a system that functions at a practical level and implemented it on-site in a short period of time to address requirements unique to DCT
, such as “inter-site collaboration” and “remote patient support,” which differ from traditional clinical trials. While digital implementation often does not necessarily translate into on-site improvements, we hope to share the “digital strategy for DCT establishment” that we co-created with the site and provide insights for those considering DCT implementation in the future.

This panel discussion will focus on the Japanese-style DCT, which is operated primarily by medical institutions, and will discuss how this DCT model was created from the perspectives of clinical trial institutions, partner sites, clinical trial sponsors + CROs, DCT platformers (IT vendors), and patients. Moderators will be Professor Asano of Osaka University, who has experience in launching a full DCT model with 2,000 cases at one facility, and Inogawa of Buzzreach, who will share the goals, challenges, and discoveries of each stakeholder through the project.