NEW YORK, NY — (Marketwired) — 07/29/13 — , a leading provider of end-to-end telehealth solutions, today announced the appointment of Michael J. O-Brien as President of its Clinical Trials Division, signaling the company-s commitment to expand telemonitoring into broader areas of healthcare. O-Brien will leverage his 30 years of broad-based C-suite experience in the life sciences and information technology industries to build upon AMC Health-s success and meet the surging demand for innovative telemonitoring offerings in clinical drug development.
Prior to joining AMC Health, O-Brien was the President and CEO of Beardsworth, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) that provides full service clinical trial support for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies.
“I am very excited to join AMC Health, and to lead the effort in becoming the premier provider of telemonitoring services in the clinical trials marketplace,” O-Brien said. “AMC Health-s ability to customize integrated patient monitoring solutions offers pharmaceutical trial sponsors and CROs more efficient and comprehensive measurements of the health of patients participating in a trial.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a Phase 2 trial in which most of the biometric and patient-reported outcomes will be collected by AMC Health-s telemonitoring platform, an industry first. This trial will study the effects of lisinopril, a widely used blood pressure medication, to treat multiple sclerosis. Partnering with sponsor Transparency Life Sciences (TLS), AMC Health will provide telemonitoring technologies to collect data on blood pressure and heart rate, mobility, physical and mental function, symptoms, side effects, quality of life and medication adherence directly from patients- homes. According to TLS CEO Tomasz Sablinski, “Telemonitoring will reduce the cost of this study by more than 50 percent.”
In a separate study, AMC Health is providing telemonitoring services for a Phase 1 study of a new drug in development by a major pharmaceutical company.
“We are excited to have an industry veteran like Michael O-Brien leading this charge for our company,” said Nesim Bildirici, president and CEO of AMC Health. “Pharmaceutical companies have faced real challenges enrolling and retaining participants for clinical trials, collecting accurate data and analyzing and reporting the results. Innovative telemonitoring technology in clinical trials will transform drug development in an industry that is poised to take advantage of its many benefits.”
O-Brien added, “The convergence of technology advancements in telemonitoring, the need for more efficient means of conducting trials, and the ongoing pursuit of better data to support new drug applications will continue to drive demand for innovative solutions such as telemonitoring. AMC Health-s wide-ranging telemonitoring successes and ability to provide innovative, customized solutions have already established the company as a respected market leader.”
Pharmaceutical companies are being squeezed from many directions creating powerful incentives to reduce the time and costs associated with developing new drugs. Additionally, the FDA has recently signaled its receptivity to this new way to conduct drug approval trials. Telemonitoring-s capacity to revolutionize all facets of the clinical trial process: recruitment, data capture and data analysis, make it a game changer. For example:
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, clinical trials report average medication adherence rates of only 43 to 78 percent. Telemonitoring can alert patients and researchers when medications are not taken as directed, which can significantly improve the rate of adherence.
Traditionally, clinical trial data has been collected and inputted manually, which is inefficient and error-prone. Telemonitoring provides more objective, accurate and timely data by automating these processes. Because data is uploaded directly from the in-home biometric monitors, there is less need to audit and monitor the data collection process.
Only 6 percent of clinical trials are completed on time, according to the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation. A Bloomberg Government analysis estimated that a delay of even one month in getting a drug to market could mean millions of dollars in additional pre-launch expenses and lost revenue.
An Industry Standard Research report found that about 70 percent of all clinical trials face delays due to patient enrollment difficulties. Another study found that only 30 percent of patients who say they would be willing to participate in a clinical trial live within a reasonable travel distance of study sites. By eliminating frequent site visits, telemonitoring facilitates enrollment of many more eligible patients.
Michael J. O-Brien joins @AMCHealth as president of clinical trials division. #telehealth #clinical
With headquarters in New York City, AMC Health is a leading provider of end-to-end telehealth solutions, with customized, scalable, cost-effective programs to monitor patients at home. AMC Health delivers clinically actionable information that enhances care coordination, improves patient outcomes and reduces the overall cost of healthcare and clinical trials. For more information, visit .
Contact:
Jan Shulman
Amendola Communications for AMC Health
480-664-8412 ext. 12
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