Time and time again, clinical research — from the development of the Covid-19 vaccines to the invention of ibuprofen — has proven to be fundamental to society and the scientific industry. However, due to the amount of funding and resources needed for studies, clinical research is often only bankrolled by a select few or those in university settings.
Atlanta-based Sharecare wants to make research more accessible to people and is launching a new platform meant to aid clinical research as well as make it easier for people to conduct research. On Tuesday, the company announced it launched a no-code, self-service platform that would enable independent researchers to conduct clinical studies.
The company’s new product, Smart Omix by Sharecare, is a SaaS platform that digitizes or eliminates many of the barriers encountered when doing research. The platform lets researchers create prototypes, analyze data or even find remote participants for a study.
On the Sharecare app, participants or those interested in joining a study can self-report health metrics to researchers. The app also facilitates electronic consent forms between both parties.
“Smart Omix is designed for researchers by researchers to make high-quality, rigorous real-world data studies an accessible reality across the field — whether led from within a pharmaceutical company or by a ‘citizen scientist’ aiming to learn more about a condition,” Zeenia Framroze, Sharecare’s vice president of strategy, said in a statement.
Sharecare offers a tired license model for researchers wanting to use Omix. This makes it a cost-effective solution for anyone looking to do research, from students to clinicians.
According to the company, the platform will remove socioeconomic barriers that often bar people of color from participating in studies. This may also help increase diversity in clinical trials, something the U.S. Food & Drug Administation says is key to advancing health equity.
Sharecare is a digital health company that helps people manage their health all in one place. It connects users with medical professionals, offers tips about healthy lifestyle changes and much more. It currently has several openings across departments.
