Sharp Invests in Interactive Response Technology Solution

Sharp has invested US$650,000 into enhancing its Interactive Response Technology (IRT) solution, which is employed to manage patient interactions and drug supplies during clinical trials as well as to perform a variety of functions for sponsors, drug depots, and investigative sites.

With this investment, the company is seeking to add a supply forecaster to predict patient enrolment and clinical supply consumption, a warehouse return system to perform accountability for returns from clinical sites, integration with the company’s enterprise resource planning system, and introduction of dynamic randomization with minimization and simulation.

“At Sharp, we want to reduce the cost of clinical trials to the benefit of sponsors and patients,” said Eddie Montoya, newly appointed IRT specialist at Sharp in a press release. “One of the tools that helps us deliver this goal is IRT. The data management side of clinical trials costs around 30% of the overall cost-IRT mitigates this cost by ensuring the integrity of trial data and that data [are] collected and exchanged in the most efficient way possible. IRT also reduces drug waste by ensuring the right amount of drug goes to the right place at the right time. The enhancements to our solution will bolster its performance and help make clinical trials more efficient and reliable, which will lead to savings for our clients around the world.”