This Boston startup wants to connect patients to clinical trials faster than ever

by Justine Hofherr
December 15, 2017
clara health
Photo via Clara Health

It all started when Sol Chen was walking across the campus of Brown University, where she was earning her bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics.

She was used to passing buildings and bulletin boards littered with flyers advertising local bands or apartments for rent, but leaning against a telephone pole one morning, one flyer in particular caught her eye:

“The flyer was calling for breast cancer patients to take part in a clinical trial,” Chen said. She was aghast. “I kept imagining what it would feel like to be a breast cancer patient trying to find my best treatment options and seeing this flyer on a telephone pole.”

There has to be a better way, Chen thought.

Not only was the “flyer method” somewhat insensitive, Chen thought that patients researching trials would have an unnecessarily difficult time discovering their options if it required discovering them while walking around college campuses.

That’s when it clicked: Chen wanted to create an online platform that would transform the clinical trial experience for patients and researchers, who often struggle to find enough patients to take part in their trials.

By 2016, she and co-founder Evan Ehrenberg had formed Clara Health, a centralized online platform that houses every current study in the United States and abroad, accessible to patients researching clinical trials.

In just a few minutes, users can complete a profile and the Clara team will find and connect patients with the right studies — all for free. 

Since we have every single clinical trial on our platform today, we can help any patient find a trial relevant to their condition."

Clara also provides patients with all the requisite information about relevant trials, as well as insights into managing life as a patient.

“Since we have every single clinical trial on our platform today, we can help any patient find a trial relevant to their condition,” Chen said, be it an immune disorder, cancer diagnosis or a mental health condition. “After they have been matched with a trial, we offer patients ‘white-glove service’ throughout their treatment process.”

The “white glove service” includes providing patients with in-depth guides that will help prepare them for their treatment, covering topics like stress management, trial payments, insurance coverage, and travel and lodging.

Not only does Clara’s platform aim to empower patients with knowledge about clinical trials and the ability to search for the right trials for their conditions, the startup also helps medical researchers at hospitals, universities and pharmaceutical companies streamline and expedite the patient recruitment process and bring breakthrough treatments to market faster.

Though Clara is still in its first year of operation, the company has been named a finalist in industry awards, including the SCOPE Patient Engagement Award and the Fierce Pharma’s Digital Health Innovation Awards. Co-founders Chen and Ehrenberg were also recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 healthcare list for 2018.

Eventually, Ehrenberg said he hopes Clara Health will be seen as the “ultimate solution” for patients seeking to better understand all of their treatment options, including clinical trials.

With regards to a patient's experience, the team is hoping to offer services during an otherwise difficult or overwhelming time in their lives. “We want it to be as simple as booking an Airbnb,” Ehrenberg said. “And eventually, we’ll hopefully see products go to market much faster.”

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