Lightship® and Acclinate Announce Partnership to Increase Access to Clinical Trials for Diverse Populations

by | Sep 28, 2022 | Press Releases

Lightship is teaming up with digital health company Acclinate to increase access to and engagement of diverse participants in a decentralized neurology clinical trial for a large pharmaceutical company. Beyond the neurology trial, the partnership aims to increase access and engagement in clinical trials for underrepresented populations.

Acclinate’s #NOWINCLUDED™ and e-DICT™ engagement and predictive analytics platform, in combination with Lightship’s tailored approach to designing and delivering clinical trials that are more accessible and offer more choice to patients in need, are being used to engage participants in an ongoing neurology clinical trial in the United States for a top pharmaceutical company.

“Removing common barriers to clinical trial participation such as geographic constraints or logistical concerns around traveling to a site, missing time from work, or coordinating childcare, helps increase access to clinical research,” said Lightship CEO David MacMurchy. “Sometimes, people do not know how to gain access to clinical trials. Our partnership with Acclinate leverages their established, trusted community connections, digital platform, and app with Lightship’s robust clinical trial infrastructure and commitment to meeting participants where they are to deliver this clinical trial.”

“Underrepresented racial and ethnic populations have been profoundly impacted by inequities in the healthcare system,” said Delmonize “Del” Smith, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Acclinate. “While people of color make up over 42 percent of the U.S.  population, they are significantly underrepresented in clinical research, leading to even greater healthcare disparities. Our #NOWINCLUDED community educates, engages, and empowers communities of color to make informed decisions about their health, including opportunities to take part in clinical trials. Combined with our e-DICT predictive analytics tool, we help pharmaceutical companies and other health organizations present their clinical trials to diverse members who are most likely to participate.”

To date, the collaboration between Lightship and Acclinate has resulted in close to 5,000 people being provided the opportunity to gain access to the clinical trial, with a resulting engagement response rate of about 10 percent.

Read the full press release here.