Accelerating Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Recruitment with Data-Driven Digital

Alzheimer’s

Accelerating Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Recruitment with Data-Driven Digital

January 13, 2022
By: Howie Levy

Alzheimer’s, digital marketing, marketing, PAC, patient acquisition cost, patient recruitment, recruitment

In the competitive landscape of clinical trial recruitment, research sites often struggle to enroll patients efficiently and predictably. C6 addresses this challenge by leveraging data-driven digital strategies to accelerate patient recruitment. This case study demonstrates how C6’s approach, which involves creating a pilot campaign to establish baseline metrics and then scaling up to a full-scale campaign, empowered a research site to secure local advertising budget from clinical study sponsors and achieve remarkable results for an Alzheimer’s study.

The C6 Process

C6’s process begins with the creation of a pilot campaign, designed to establish baseline performance metrics and gauge the feasibility of a full-scale recruitment effort. In the summer of 2020, a research site partnered with C6 to recruit Alzheimer’s study candidates on a pay-per-lead basis. C6 built and managed a site-branded digital marketing campaign between July and December 2020, with a total investment of $24,180 from the research site. The campaign generated 310 Alzheimer’s leads at a cost-per-lead of $78.00, without any additional setup or fixed-rate costs.

The pilot campaign provided valuable insights into the recruitment funnel:
– 76% (237) of the leads were contacted for an initial phone screen
– 35% (101) of the leads were pre-screened by a physician
– 4.2% (13) of the leads entered the trial screening phase
– 0.65% (2) of the leads were randomized into the trial

The patient acquisition cost (PAC) for the pilot campaign was $12,090.

Forecasting and Securing Budget

Armed with the pilot campaign’s performance data, C6 was able to forecast the results of a full-scale recruitment campaign with a high degree of accuracy. This predictability empowered the research site to approach clinical study sponsors with a compelling case for securing local advertising budget.

C6 proposed a full-scale campaign for 2021, aiming to enroll 10 randomized patients with a budget of $124,800. The campaign was forecasted to generate 1,600 leads and assumed a 0.65% randomization rate, based on the pilot campaign’s results.

Full-Scale Campaign Results

Budget for the full-scale campaign was secured from a major pharmaceutical company who’s study was behind forecast for patient enrollment. The campaign, which ran from February to September 2021, exceeded expectations:
– 1,926 Alzheimer’s trial information leads were delivered
– 75.65% (1,457) of the leads underwent phone screenings
– 28.97% (558) of the leads were pre-screened
– 4.85% (95) of the leads entered the screening phase
– 0.62% (12) of the leads were randomized into the trial

The actual cost per randomized patient was $12,519, closely aligning with the forecasted cost of $12,480. The total budget utilized for the campaign was $150,228.

Key Learnings and Conclusion

C6’s data-driven approach, which leverages pilot campaigns to establish baseline metrics and forecast full-scale campaign results, provides research sites with the tools and confidence to secure local advertising budgets from clinical study sponsors. This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach in the context of an Alzheimer’s clinical trial, where the research site successfully expanded its operational capacity and drove enrollment at a significant scale. By partnering with C6, research sites can benefit from predictable, scalable, fast, and efficient digital strategies that accelerate patient recruitment and contribute to the advancement of clinical research.