New Jersey-based CRO Cognizant has seen its digital software program aimed at streamlining clinical trials and speeding up drug discoveries break the 250,000 user mark.
The Shared Investigator Platform (SIP), which debuted in 2016 as a joint effort between Cognizant and biopharma consortium TransCelerate, was designed to standardize trial-related documents and other activities that can be securely and quickly exchanged across global site and sponsor teams.
Now in use at more than 32,000 trial-ready sites worldwide, SIP has been adopted by some of the largest global biopharma companies, including Merck & Co., Cognizant said in a Sept. 20 release. Use of the platform has jumped more than 65% in the past two years.
“As the world continues to fight new disease outbreaks, the ability for biopharmaceutical and clinical and academic research organizations to collaborate virtually has become more important than ever,” Surya Gummadi, Cognizant’s senior vice president of global health sciences and Americas lead, said in a release.
Adoption of digital tools used in clinical trials exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on travel and one-on-one patient consultations.
Software giant Oracle’s health sciences division partnered with Cognizant in early 2021 in an effort to reduce common burdens in clinical trials such as manual and paper-based processes, complex technology systems and multiple logins.