Sanos Group invests in virtual contract research organization
The clinical contract research organization Sanos Group has entered into an agreement with LEO Pharma to acquire Studies&Me to strengthen recruitment for clinical studies, accelerate digital development and create a strong position within decentralized virtual courses.
Studies&Me A/S was the first virtual contract research organization in Europe and today conducts decentralized clinical trials (DCT), which makes it possible to offer a more patient-centered approach with fewer clinic visits and patients, as well as less staffing and shorter study durations. Patients participate from their homes via digital initiatives and medical devices, and they are more involved in the organization of the study and the course via apps on their own devices. This results in overall higher satisfaction and quality as well as economic value, as it can be both cheaper, better and faster than traditional study designs. “Studies&Me fits well into the development that we are currently undergoing at Sanos Group. They have created a strong recruitment platform, valuable digital competencies and a high-quality app-based technology that complements and strengthens the further development of our way of running clinical studies for our customers,” says Group CEO Jeppe Ragnar Andersen, Sanos Group.
Highly efficient patient recruitment
Studies&Me has achieved good results in recruiting patients via online campaigns, where the process from registration to introduction to a study coordinator can be completed in as little as three hours. While it can take up to a year to recruit patients for traditional studies, Studies&Me can recruit in 14 days or 8 weeks for online studies and hybrid study programs, respectively.
In addition to effective recruitment, Studies&Me can reach patient groups that were previously unable to participate in clinical trials, and the number of patients who leave studies can be reduced by up to two-thirds. Studies&Me has conducted more than 20 clinical phase 1 to 4 studies in traditional on-site, hybrid and decentralized study designs. The strengths have been created within dermatology and endocrinology with
studies in atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne, actinic keratosis, onychomycosis and T2 diabetes. The company has established a patient database with over 20,000 people from North America, Europe and Australia. Head of LEO Innovation Lab, Anne Cathrine Fleischer, who is also interim CEO of Studies&Me, sees this as an obvious collaboration.
“We could not have imagined a better buyer, and see it as the perfect match that Studies&Me will be part of the Sanos Group in the future. There is no doubt that the strong digital competencies, as well as the experience we have built up in running clinical studies digitally in Studies&Me, will create good synergy with Sanos, their ambitious plans for the future and their already solid market position. From LEO Pharma’s side, we are pleased to contribute to an innovative ecosystem that makes life easier for patients in decentralized clinical studies,” she says.
LEO Pharma’s digital innovation unit LEO Innovation Lab started the Studies&Me project in 2016 and established the company as an independent company in August 2020. Studies&Me will continue under its own name and identity for the time being.
“Studies&Me will be Sanos Group’s competence center for decentralized clinical studies, focusing on internal innovation in the group and external delivery of clinical projects. We look forward to working with the talented employees of Studies&Me and expanding the business, which will ensure a unique position within both dermatology and DCT from early-stage studies to online phase 4 studies, which will complement our other services very well,” says Jeppe Ragnar Andersen. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price, and the transfer is expected to be completed on May 1, 2022.
About Studies&Me
LEO Pharma’s digital innovation unit LEO Innovation Lab initiated the Studies&Me project in 2016 and established the company as an independent company in August 2020. Studies&Me is Europe’s first virtual contract research organization with the goal of transforming the world of clinical research. By digitizing all phases of the study and actively engaging patients as design partners, end-to-end experiences can be created that reach previously excluded patient populations and deliver better outcomes for participants, investigators and sponsors alike.
Om Sanos Group
Sanos Group is a leading specialist provider of clinical trial services to the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry, specialising in osteoarthritis and headquartered in Herlev. The group also includes Sanos Clinic and the contract research organisation NBCD . Since December 2020, Sanos Group has been owned by Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products with a strong track record of investing in the healthcare sector worldwide.
Further information can be obtained from:
Group CEO Jeppe Ragnar Andersen, Sanos Group: +45 7370 8223, jra@sanos.com
CEO Anne Cathrine Fleischer, Studies&Me/LEO innovation Lab, +45 4188 3086