Research Triangle Park, NC – November 24, 2020 – Rho, a full-service contract research organization (CRO) that helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies bring their products to market through high-quality clinical research services, joins a formidable alliance of 50 life sciences and healthcare organizations that seeks to accelerate the broad adoption of patient-focused, decentralized clinical trials and research.

The Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA), which launches December 10, 2020, plans to unite industry stakeholders, including healthcare companies, regulators, patient groups and research organizations, with a singular mission to make clinical trial participation widely accessible by advancing policies, research practices and digital-health technologies in decentralized clinical research.

“We are extremely grateful to welcome Rho to the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance, said Amir Kalali, MD, founder of several collaborative life science communities, and co-convener of DTRA. “By advancing decentralized research, we can make the clinical trial process more patient-focused, increase trial efficiency and encourage use of technologies. We are excited by Rho’s commitment to embracing decentralized trials and changing the culture that has been a constant rate limiter to innovation.”

Rho joins with its peer DTRA Member organizations to provide expertise to identify and address gaps and needs and advance best practices through effective education and communication.

“Rho is looking forward to working with our peers to help accelerate the implementation of decentralized solutions for clinical trials,” said Matt Healy, VP of Clinical Operations at Rho. “Our team at Rho will bring its experience of helping many sponsors navigate and implement this approach to their clinical programs, providing recommendations and developing a strategic plan for remote and central monitoring, technology integration, IP management and site and patient engagement to help ease COVID-19-imposed difficulties for patients and clinical investigators.”

Experts estimate the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) may set back non-pandemic clinical trials by several years due to prospective patients’ inability or reluctance to schedule visits at physical research locations. Decentralized approaches to conducting research facilitate participation from a more diverse patient population and could ease COVID-19-imposed difficulties for patients and clinical investigators. Inclusion of representative patient populations in clinical trials by race, age and geographic location has long been an operational challenge in the industry. COVID-19 has amplified the disparities and inclusion biases that have become hurdles for potential trial participants.

“Now is the time to share ideas and insights that will chart the future course of clinical trials, accelerating drug development and saving lives – and by taking part in the DTRA, Rho is demonstrating its leadership to drive change,” said Craig Lipset, DTRA co-convener, clinical innovation advisor and a pioneer in decentralized trials. “We have a responsibility to advance the health of people with unmet medical needs, and by convening stakeholders from pharma companies, regulators, technology leaders and patient communities, we can remove remaining barriers to adoption and impact patients today.”

Rho urges other organizations interested in taking part to visit www.DTRA.org.

About Rho

Rho, a privately held, contract research organization (CRO) located in Research Triangle Park, NC, provides a full range of clinical research services across the entire drug development process. For more than 35 years, Rho has been a trusted partner to some of the industry’s leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies as well as academic and government organizations. Our commitment to excellence, our innovative technologies, and our therapeutic expertise accelerate time to market, maximize returns on investment, and lead to an exceptional customer experience. Please follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

About DTRA:

The Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA) was convened to enable collaboration of stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of patient-focused, decentralized clinical trials and research within life sciences and healthcare through education and research. It works to make research participation accessible to everyone, enabled by the consistent, widespread adoption of appropriate decentralized research methods.