Virtual Studies

CTC offer the possibility to conduct virtual clinical trials (VCTs) and/or Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs) based on electronic solutions. Virtual solutions make the conduct of clinical studies easier and contributes to faster and more cost-effective development of new treatment for the healthcare of the future.

Digital and virtual solutions can replace, all parts or some of, the components and procedures in a clinical trial, to make it more convenient for the patients and cost-effective for the customers.

Erik

CTC’s first virtual study started in January 2018, and during this study, no physical visits to the clinic were conducted. Instead, the screening visit with the physician and all subsequent check-ups by study nurses were conducted through video calls. During the virtual screening visit, the investigator informed the patient about the study, asked questions about medical history and decided if the person could be included in the study or not. Signing of the informed consent form was done using the web-based identity verification tool Bank ID. Read more about e-consent here.

Performing remote clinical studies using digital technology creates the opportunity for a larger number of people to participate, as study sites can recruit people from all over Sweden. Above all, virtual visits are convenient for the study participants since they do not need to come to the clinic. Read more about our virtual visits.

Our first virtual study did not involve any blood sampling or physical examination, and the study product was not classified as an investigational medicinal product (IMP), which made the study especially suitable for completion through the web. Our first virtual clinical trial with an IMP (covid-19 treatment) was conducted during 2020. This trial included home visits with IMP administration and sampling, virtual visits and e-consent.

Virtual solutions have been adapted to several of our trials and since web-based visits and e-consents are cost- and time-effective solutions, CTC see virtual studies, of which all or only a subset of the visits is conducted through the web, as an exciting future opportunity.

We provide our customers with cost-effective advice, conduct and reporting of clinical trials.