EARTH CITY, Mo.— Optime Care, a nationally recognized pharmacy, distribution and patient management organization maximizing therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of orphan and rare disorders, points to the challenges of conducting clinical trials for specialty drug manufacturers during the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes the importance of its patient-first approach that uses tools to enable in-home clinical services, direct-to-patient support and remote monitoring for keeping clinical trials on track.
Optime Care points to the success of this approach to shorten the time from the clinical trial to patient access to the medication, capturing 90% of patients during the transition period within 30 days.
“About 33% of all drugs in active R&D pipelines are now included in the rare disease category, presenting scientific and operational challenges to sponsors and clinical trial ecosystem participants, the adoption of new strategies, operating models and processes,” says Donovan Quill, president and CEO, Optime Care, citing a recent report out of Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. “The current pandemic represents additional issues facing patients, providers and drug manufacturers in the rare and orphan disease market. These challenges include the high cost of clinical trials and patient recruitment. While traditional models are built for scale, Optime Care’s patient-first approach focuses on and customizes services for small patient populations, delivering expertise to overcome the limitations of legacy care models and providing cost-effective programs.”
This streamlined approach includes financial advantages, assurance that products are properly and promptly distributed, and patient services designed to ensure compliance and quick, accurate reimbursement processing.
Quill adds, “Optime Care’s involvement in two clinical trials began just as the pandemic started, but our integrated telehealth feature enabled patients to get the products delivered without going to the doctor’s office. As a result, the trials had significantly more patients involved, despite the national lockdown.”
He points to capabilities of their innovative model to build awareness and introduce education programs that aid manufacturer’s understanding of patient groups.
“As a result, manufacturers know they have the support to develop a drug and a comprehensive program based upon specific needs,” Quill adds. “Optime Care also adds a layer of patient advocacy, helps physicians better understand the patient journey, creates a patient registry and gives manufacturers an opportunity to obtain patient reported outcomes outside of the clinical trial protocol.”
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About Optime Care
Optime Care, Inc. is a nationally recognized pharmacy, distribution and patient management organization offering a suite of comprehensive services tailored to maximize the therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of orphan and rare disorders. Our management team has previously partnered in the launch of more than 25 orphan products and consistently implemented the best brand program for the community. Our experience with small patient populations makes us uniquely qualified to help every stakeholder group impacted by these disorders. Optime Care has dual-accreditation from the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC) for compliance with specialty pharmacy and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) for specialty pharmacy services that demonstrate a commitment to providing quality care and services to consumers. https://www.optimecare.com/
