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The World on the Edge
In December 2019, the world as we know it changed. The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped our society in many lasting ways, transforming how we work, travel, and shop. It also challenged our access to knowledge, entertainment, and healthcare.
Still, adversity opens humans to new opportunities. As health was pushed to the top of the global agenda, researchers, medical facilities, and governments worldwide started working relentlessly on impactful solutions to the COVID-19 crisis: creating virtual healthcare platforms, digital apps tracking data and monitoring infection rates, and accelerating vaccine research. The rise of Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) has further transformed how medical research is conducted, enabling remote patient participation and streamlining data collection. Suddenly, we have entered a new era in technology-enabled health innovations.
A $10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other significant Australian-based philanthropy, has allowed the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne to conduct a Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) for the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine in the treatment of COVID-19. This century-old tuberculosis vaccine, which may protect the health of thousands of healthcare workers across the globe, is now being trialed in Australia and Europe.
Our digital patient engagement app, WeGuide, helped to make it happen in record time. Here is how.
Leveraging Decentralized Clinical Trials DCT for Healthcare Innovation
WeGuide is a spin-off company of the award-winning digital health agency, Curve Tomorrow. Both Curve and WeGuide were founded on the belief that technology should serve the greater good. We wanted to transform how patients access and engage with healthcare and support the exponential growth of health innovations that help to prevent, cure, and manage various medical conditions through Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT).
As a leading health-tech provider, we have been creating digital healthcare technology for Australia's key organisations, clinicians, and researchers. In the last ten years, we have built more than 20 patient engagement mobile apps that help to identify symptoms, track patients' results, and collect data for scientific research. Many of these innovations have supported the shift toward Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT), allowing remote patient monitoring and improved access to healthcare studies. We are proud of our partnerships with organisations like the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), the National Research Institute for Ageing (NARI), and the University of Melbourne (UoM).
Since the pandemic started, it quickly became apparent that the people most affected by the virus are those on the frontlines — our health workers. From small practices to large hospitals, they have been working relentlessly, short on supplies and sleep, stretched to the limits. In response, Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) have emerged as a critical tool to facilitate rapid vaccine testing and ensure the safety of frontline workers.
MCRI's Infectious Diseases Research Group Leader, Professor Nigel Curtis, and his team had clues that the BCG vaccine might reduce the severity of coronavirus symptoms. Professor Curtis saw an opportunity to test the vaccine with healthcare workers through a Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT), enabling broad participation while maintaining rigorous scientific standards. Recognizing the need for a robust digital solution, he partnered with Curve to provide the necessary technology for this DCT.
Supported by the World Health Organisation, the MCRI's Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) has now received additional funding of $10m from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This funding will allow scientists to extend the vaccine to 10,000 healthcare workers across Australia and Europe, demonstrating the power of DCTs in scaling medical research efficiently.
"The BCG vaccine could help protect people from COVID-19. It seems to boost the body’s frontline immune system, enabling it to protect against several different infections," says Professor Curtis. He adds that even though BCG is not a cure for coronavirus, it could reduce the time an infected healthcare worker is unwell, allowing them to recover and return to work faster. The study also highlights how Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) may serve as a vital approach for future pandemics, given the long timeframes needed to develop disease-specific vaccines.
"The BCG vaccine could help protect people from COVID-19. It seems to boost the body’s frontline immune system, enabling it to protect against several different infections." - Professor Nigel Curtis, MCRI
Empowering Decentralized Clinical Trial DCT for Healthcare Research
“The main benefit of the app is its convenience. I can’t imagine how we’d follow thousands of participants and collect their data without WeGuide!”
Kaya Gardiner, BRACE Trial Project Manager
Before the MCRI team started to administer the BCG vaccine in addition to the annual flu vaccination to a sample of 4,000 Australian healthcare workers, there was an urgent need for a digital data collection platform that would assist in monitoring the trial's results.
Typically, developers need between 2-6 months to perfect an app as sophisticated as this one. Thanks to the collective efforts and excellent collaboration between the WeGuide team and MCRI researchers, we built this tool in just two and a half weeks. To facilitate the efficient collection of healthcare research data, WeGuide sits on top of the gold-standard research database RedCap. There is a seamless integration to securely pass information from a trial participant's phone into the database.
Our number one goal was to increase the collection of the most precise and accurate data from the participants involved in the BCG COVID-19 vaccine trial. As a Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT), this study required a robust digital platform that would enable remote monitoring, real-time tracking, and automated follow-ups.
The BCG App also wanted to address the following key issues:
- Prevent participant dropout and poor-quality data collection through the simple, easy-to-use interface and a set of behavioral prompts to keep users motivated.
- Capture symptoms with real-time tracking and data validation (e.g., collect data points that aren’t possible through retrospective tracking such as daily temperature—people won’t recall temperature from a few days ago).
- Reduce the need for manual follow-ups from coordinators with an efficient automated module, notifying them to take nose swabs of at-risk participants within the 24-48 hour recommended timeframe, instead of days later.
- Give study coordinators the flexibility to design their own app that best fits the requirements of their study.
- Automatically notify study coordinators if someone is not engaging with the trial, so they can be followed up with to avoid dropout.
- Increase the number of participants that can partake in the trial, so that thousands can participate, rather than hundreds.
Screenshots of the BCG trial symptom tracker
WeGuide: What’s Next?
“Nowadays in healthcare, having access to data is not enough. Making sure you get the best quality data is key.”
Sanji Kanagalingam, Executive Director of Curve
The WeGuide research app collects valuable data from 10,000+ participants of Professor Curtis' Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT), helping to evaluate the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine.
With added multi-language functionality, the app is now expanding into the Netherlands. The Dutch researchers have started enrolling further healthcare workers across 13 sites to take part in the BCG trial, which operates as a Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT). It is expected to be rolled out to up to 12,000 people globally, reinforcing the scalability of DCTs in medical research.
Through this app, healthcare workers who are unwell are tracked on a daily basis for any signs of COVID-19 symptoms. If symptoms are present, participants receive tailored alerts with advice. The app is designed to ensure that the burden on healthcare workers is minimal, improving adherence. As part of the Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) approach, it will automatically check-in with users when their adherence is likely to drop off and alert the research team when a swab needs to be taken from the healthcare worker.
WeGuide is also developing a COVID-19 symptom screening and monitoring platform for Australian healthcare organisations to help manage their patients and staff. We are currently working with major metropolitan hospitals across Victoria. This initiative, aligned with the principles of Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT), allows real-time symptom tracking and remote patient management, ensuring faster interventions and better patient outcomes.
Building on our participation with leading research organisations to drive change and improve health outcomes, we are adamant that a patient-centric approach within the healthcare ecosystem isn’t just an abstract concept. There is a growing body of research showing that Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) and digital platforms have immense power in providing quality healthcare remotely, which reduces healthcare costs, improves patient engagement, increases access, and enhances health outcomes.
The COVID-19 crisis has also shown that patient engagement platforms are invaluable in collecting quality data used for scientific discovery and innovation. By integrating Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) principles, WeGuide ensures that healthcare research continues to evolve, becoming more efficient, scalable, and accessible to participants worldwide.
At Curve Tomorrow, we operate at the intersection of health and technology, integrity and flexibility, and we strive to connect people with ideas and evidence-informed strategies on how to drive change and build a better future through health innovation.
An example of how WeGuide can be implemented during COVID-19
How can we help?
To understand how WeGuide can help your company automate gathering patient data, get in touch and become our partner through this link!
