After the earliest clinical trials in India for COVID-19 plasma therapy went live using SyMetric’s cloud-based analytics solution, the startup hasn’t looked back. With 10 completed COVID-19 studies behind them, SyMetric is on a mission to modernize the life sciences industry.
“We are providing a holistic solution for clinical trials management, what we call ERP for clinical research,” said Uma Janapareddy, founder and managing director at SyMetric. “Having easily accessible data on one unified platform helps researchers develop more effective drugs with stronger study results so they can bring pioneering medicines faster to people.”
People-Driven Clinical Trials
Physicians, researchers, project managers, investigators, and biostatisticians are using SyMetric Trial Analytics to conduct studies at global pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations in a variety of therapeutic areas such as neurology, respiratory illness, oncology, and dermatology.
Running on SAP Business Technology Platform, the solution captures and analyzes historical and updated clinical trial data in one system. This includes patient information indicating initial eligibility to participate in a clinical trial and progress monitoring through rigorous statistical analyses at trial completion for regulatory submission. The tool captures and analyzes electronic data from anywhere, such as a patient’s activities tracked on a mobile device or artificial intelligence (AI)-based imaging that shows medical progress.
“If you’re starting a lung cancer study, you can easily find out disease prevalence rates and research histories by geography, experience of the investigators, availability of skilled coordinators or pharmacists, and other factors. Our solution brings this data together for informed planning that leads to more efficient execution,” said Janapareddy. “Once the trial is underway, our easy-to-use solutions help researchers accurately track patient recruitment, study progress, make necessary amendments to the clinical study on the fly, and conduct any other activities.”
Time-Saving Clinical Data Analytics
According to Janapareddy, the solution gives clinicians cost-savings foresight and flexibility. Built-in algorithms automatically monitor data, for example, rejecting potential patients who don’t fit certain parameters based on gender, age, or certain health and lifestyle conditions. Real-time data saves time in data clean up at the project completion stage.
Customers have reduced clinical trial setup and completion timelines by 20%. Some have saved up to 30% wastage of drug supplies during the trial manufacturing phase. One customer saved thousands of dollars using the solution to calculate the number of patient volunteers, as well as the number of drugs and testing kits required to meet randomization objectives with greater precision.
“With real-time data and built-in algorithms, companies can quickly adapt protocols in response to continuous patient recruitment,” she said. “Researchers can conduct interim analyses at any time before study completion, adjusting drug dosages, delivery mechanisms, and packaging quantities. The system automatically incorporates protocol adjustments and amendments, sans any downtime and without jeopardizing overall study timelines.”
Working with SAP Labs India
While most of SyMetric’s customers are based in the United States and India, Janapareddy has set her sights on Europe, inspired by the strength of SAP’s innovation ecosystem. An alumni of SAP Startup Studio at SAP Labs India, Janapareddy appreciated the design thinking workshops her team used to develop use cases from their collective experiences. She also valued the co-innovation relationships her startup has forged with other members of the program. These include biopharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and cosmeceutical and nutraceutical manufacturers.
“We have a shared passion with SAP for the power of life sciences and integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) data on a single platform – where every company becomes an intelligent enterprise,” said Janapareddy. “SAP is a global leader in life sciences including pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and ERP, and its leaders generously share their expertise with us. We also appreciate the significant exposure to SAP customers from this partnership.”
SyMetric Trial Analytics and the SyMetric Clinical Trial Platform are available on SAP Store.
Connected Clinical Trial Supply Chain
Before she founded SyMetric, Janapareddy held leadership positions at an international non-profit organization that provided funding, education, and other opportunities for underprivileged women. She developed the concept for SyMetric with input from her family and friends at SAP and in the life sciences industry.
“I wanted to do something big in life, contributing to the community in a way that would have lasting impact,” she said. “There was no integrated system for clinical trials anywhere in the life science industry, so I founded SyMetric to help manage the entire supply chain for people-centric research.”
From Data-Centric to Patient-Centric Trials
Janapareddy envisioned a fully interconnected data platform for everyone involved in life sciences clinical research and manufacturing.
“The industry is looking ahead to patient-centricity, where people can control their data using the latest technologies to share information and act on it on secure, compliant cloud-based platforms,” she said. “It began with informed consent and now connected data brings researchers and patients even closer together.”
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This blog also appeared on SAP BrandVoice on Forbes.