Top Stories of 2024: Decentralized Clinical Trials, New Treatments, AI Automation, More
January 3, 2025 | In 2024, AI continued to help clinical research and trials by increasing efficiency and patient engagement, new drugs and treatments showed great potential for previously difficult-to-treat diseases, and decentralized clinical trials are heading to their “next phase.” The Scope of Things podcast also delivered news and exclusive conversations on improving diversity in clinical trials, enrollment challenges, patient centricity, and more.
To kick off 2025, here are the top stories from Clinical Research News and top episodes from the Scope of Things podcast. – The Editors
SCOPE Europe 2024 once again spotlighted hundreds of organizations for their breakthroughs, discoveries, and achievements to improve clinical trials and help patients on a worldwide scale. Three awards were presented at the conference: the Participant Engagement Award, the Site Innovation Award, and the Best of Show Award.
Darlene Ellenor, director of project operations for eClinical development and delivery at ICON, discusses the key challenges of decentralized clinical trials (DCTs), including keeping sites and patients engaged, dealing with the near-constant inflow of data from digital platforms and wearable devices, and quantifying the value of various decentralized study components.
In February 2024, Greenphire acquired Clincierge. The combination is intended to enhance the participant journey and simplify clinical trial processes for pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations worldwide, according to statements issued about the news.
A team of researchers from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Sydney (Australia) have developed an oral nanotherapeutic formulation of insulin, bringing the possibility of reducing or even eliminating hypoglycemia, one of the biggest backlashes of insulin therapy.
Last year, Immunovant launched a late-stage clinical trial for Graves’ disease. CEO Peter Salzmann, M.D. and his team are working on a first-generation anti-FcRn agent IMVT-1401 (batoclimab), which has shown results that “meaningfully exceeded 50% response rates.”
Revolution Medicines has developed RMC-7977, an oral pan-RAS inhibitor that effectively targets the common cancer-causing RAS proteins while minimally impacting normal cells. Kenneth Olive, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the study that tested the drug.
Researchers from the University of Adelaide (Australia) and Columbia University (New York) have “reimagined” osteoarthritis, providing a pharmaceutical target for the discovery of drugs to reverse and treat the ubiquitous degenerative joint disease. Fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF18) has helped with significant recovery of cartilage thickness and reduced osteoarthritis, according to Jia Ng, senior research commercialization associate at AusHealth.
Top Episodes of the Scope of Things Podcast
This year, the Scope of Things podcast also covered the biggest trends and the most pressing news in the clinical research field. Here were our top podcast episodes:
In the first episode of 2024, host Deborah Borfitz discusses AI’s role in the creation of digital twins, the obesity epidemic and the drugs intended to combat it, improving diversity in trial candidates, and other news. Ward Lemaire, VP Head of Data Management and Central Monitoring at J&J Innovative Medicine, and Dan Hydes, Co-Founder and CEO at IgniteData, also join the conversation to talk about how start-up companies can meet multiple demands and needs, direct their limited resources, and more.
Host Deborah Borfitz covers a massive health research initiative in the UK, widespread overdosing of trial participants, a cholesterol-lowering vaccine, and more. Donna Dorozinsky, president & CEO of Just in Time GCP, also discusses changes related to expectations of institutional review boards, the use of social media for recruitment and communication purposes, and the impact of world events on clinical data management.
Host Deborah Borfitz highlights SCOPE 2024 and talks about the growing use of AI, patient centricity, decentralized clinical trials, and more. She also interviews CliniSpan Health founder and CEO Dezbee McDaniel, winner of the pitch contest at SCOPE, about his company’s novel social media influencer relationship management platform for improving clinical research diversity.
This episode gives the breakdown on using digital twins to tailor medications for individual patients, the use of a skin biopsy test to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases, and the launch of a European-wide platform promoting access to care for all. Host Deborah Borfitz and Michael Snyder, chair of the department of genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine and director of the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford, also talk about the growing adoption of wearables and home microsampling—and how this will dramatically change clinical trials and care.
Host Deborah Borfitz delivers the news on using AI for trial screening and recruitment purposes, a diabetes drug that may help treat sleep apnea, questionable advice from the FDA given to departing staffers, and other news. Hannah Kemp, vice president of strategic client engagement at Surgo Health, chimes in to talk about how Surgo Health is helping companies recruit participants, her presentation at SCOPE 2024, and her thoughts on patient-focused drug design and the challenge of getting study sponsors on-board with enrollment strategies.
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