Decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) represent a patient-centric approach to conducting studies and trials of new medical treatments, vaccines and devices that reduce the patient burden of the traditional “brick and mortar” study model. Labcorp, a pioneer in DCT, has 20 years of experience using technology to provide remote accessibility for clinical trial participants. This can include remote monitoring of key health metrics, lab tests performed using at-home specimen collection kits, mobile specimen collection services and drug administration, and virtual phone and video visits with study participants. DCTs can remove barriers that may have slowed or prevented studies from being conducted in the past. DCTs also make trial participation a viable option for more people, including those from remote and diverse patient populations that are often underrepresented in clinical trials.

COVID-19, which limited the ability to conduct in-person clinical trials, has been a catalyst for DCT innovation. Our experience combined with enhancements we made to our infrastructure allowed us to meet the additional demand for DCT spurred by the pandemic, resulting in a more than 50% year-over-year increase in our DCT awards.