News: Cogstate signs first client to web-based clinical trial offering

CogState (ASX:CGS) has signed its first contract for Precision Recruitment, a new web-based tool for streamlining patient recruitment for clinical drug trials.

The contract will generate US$1.8 million of revenue for CogState over an estimated 24 month period.

Precision Recruitment was launched last month for pharmaceutical companies to reduce the costs and time associated with recruiting patients for clinical trials.

Traditionally, patient pre-trial screening has taken place on-site - a slow, expensive and inefficient process. Precision Recruitment allows patients to be tested and screened at home before being asked to join a clinical trial.

Potential trial participants are identified by the pharmaceutical company and asked to perform a series of online tests on CogState’s web portal.

Following the test, patients are asked to either enter the next stage of recruitment or, for those not appropriate for inclusion in the trial, they will be asked to join CogState’s Cognition Registry, a database which tracks changes in cognitive function over time, for availability in future clinical trials.

Patient recruitment delays the average clinical trial by nearly five months. CogState estimates each lost day costs drug companies at least $600,000 in forgone revenue.

Drug therapies are now focused on detecting and stopping cognitive impairment in its earliest stages and CogState’s sensitive and accurate battery of tests can detect cognitive decline associated with the Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

While Precision Recruitment has applications for drug trials focused on dementia and cognitive impairment, an increasing number of clinical trials now include cognitive impairment as an inclusion criteria.

These include clinical trials of drugs treating psychosis, cancer, depression and stroke at various stages of development.

CogState now offers pharmaceutical companies a vertically integrated suite of products, from patient recruitment through to cognition monitoring during clinical trials.