US-based pharmaceutical-services provider United BioSource (UBC) will act as the preferred oncology clinical-research partner to RT Oncology Services (RainTree) under a new agreement with the community oncology alliance.
As RainTree pointed out, UBC (a subsidiary of Express Scripts) is a market leader in the design and execution of peri- and post-approval clinical trials and studies.
Under the agreement with RainTree, UBC will have access to patient data – subject to research protocols and “appropriate consent” – from RainTree’s alliance of oncologists throughout the United States.
Its new partner will also work with RainTree to implement prospective and retrospective observational studies that can provide information on the safety and efficacy of medicines in daily clinical use.
By standardising processes within the RainTree community-oncology setting, leveraging electronic medical records across the network, and through “robust adherence” to Good Clinical Practice principles, the partnership will accelerate clinical-research programmes while giving patients in non-academic treatment settings access to the latest therapies, RT Oncology noted.
Core relationship
The relationship is “at the core of UBC’s distinction in supporting clinical development and optimising the experience for the patient, physician, manufacturer and payer as new products are approved by regulators and introduced to the marketplace”, said Patrick Lindsay, president of United BioSource.
“We now have an excellent opportunity for community oncologists to gain experience with new therapies in the same setting where approximately 80% of cancer patients are treated,” Lindsay added.
As Dr Jeff Patton, chief medical officer at RainTree, explained, data gathered through the alliance’s oncology network will offer new insights into patterns of care, potential risk factors with new therapies, and health-related quality of life, “among other components essential to improving patient outcomes”.
