Press

We are pleased to announce that we have launched a joint project (PARTNER Project: Platform Advancing Regional Trial Network in Engagement and Recruitment Project) with the Clinical Research Center of Nara Medical University Hospital (Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture; Director: Masato Kasahara; hereinafter referred to as Nara Medical University) with the aim of promoting regional collaborative case accumulation and clinical trials in the Nara area. This joint project aims 
to build a regional collaborative clinical trial participant recruitment platform centered on the university hospital, thereby improving the speed of clinical trial implementation, increasing the case accumulation rate per medical institution , and contributing to strengthening Japan’s overall new drug development capabilities.

■ Background 

In recent years, a challenge in clinical trials in Japan has been the need for a large number of clinical trial sites, as patients are dispersed across many medical institutions in the region, resulting in a small number of cases per facility. This leads to long periods of time from the start of a clinical trial to the completion of patient enrollment, contributing to drug lag and drug loss in Japan.

Amidst these circumstances, Nara Medical University, as a university hospital, has adopted the theme “Aiming to be a clinical trial site of choice” and is actively promoting clinical trials.

Quoted from the iCAT website of the Clinical Research Center, Nara Medical University Hospital.

Examples of university hospitals taking the lead in strengthening case accumulation by utilizing networks with local medical institutions and developing clinical trial promotion systems that span both within and outside the hospital are expected to contribute to strengthening Japan’s clinical trial implementation system and serve as new model cases for Japan’s clinical trial implementation system.

In this joint project, we position clinical trials as one of the important functions of the university hospital and will contribute to strengthening the functions of the university hospital by building a regional collaborative case accumulation platform.

■Main contents of the joint project

1. Support for case accumulation by recruitment managers 

Buzzreach’s “Recruitment Manager” will support the design and operation management of clinical trial entry plans at Nara Medical University. This includes maximizing the number of clinical trial candidates within the hospital, managing entry plans across different medical departments, managing referrals of clinical trial participants from outside the hospital (partner medical institutions), visualizing case enrollment status, and managing KPIs.

2. Establishment of a regional partner medical institution network 

The Nara Clinical Research Network “NARA net” will promote collaboration with affiliated medical institutions and build a regional collaborative network of partner medical institutions.

This will strengthen collaboration between local medical institutions and Nara Medical University, and aim to improve access to clinical trials throughout the region by promoting the referral of potential clinical trial participants and establishing a mutual referral system as needed.

3. Implementation of the clinical trial management system “StudyWorks” 

By utilizing StudyWorks , a clinical trial management system provided by Buzzreach , we centrally manage entry plan design and operation, candidate patient management, referral management from partner medical institutions, and visualization of clinical trial progress on a digital platform.

4. Development of the clinical trial information disclosure platform “smt for Nara Medical University Hospital” 

Buzzreach will leverage its clinical trial information disclosure support platform ” smt (search my trial) ,” which it has provided to numerous pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions, to launch ” smt for Nara Medical University Hospital .” This will enable the disclosure of ongoing clinical trial information and support for inquiries to patients, patient families, and local medical institutions in the Nara area, thereby promoting improved access to clinical trials and expanding opportunities for participation in clinical trials in the region.

5. Establishment of a DCT (Distributed Clinical Trial) Scheme 

We will promote the construction and operation management of a DCT scheme, including the use of online resources and collaboration with local medical institutions, with the aim of reducing the burden on patients and improving the efficiency of case accumulation.

■Future Outlook 

Through this joint project, Nara Medical University and Buzzreach will contribute to improving the speed of clinical trials, increasing the number of cases accumulated per facility, building new collaboration models with regional medical institutions, correcting disparities in access to clinical trials, strengthening the functions of university hospitals, and enhancing Japan’s new drug development capabilities.

Furthermore, we envision developing this model into a new, regionally collaborative clinical trial ecosystem and expanding it throughout Japan.

The press release is available here.