NEJM challenge seeks to demonstrate clinical trial data sharing's potential

Clinical trial data sharing continues to be a contentious topic in the industry, so in an attempt to demonstrate its potential, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is sponsoring the SPRINT Data Analysis Challenge.

Over recent years, many questions have arisen as to who owns clinical trial data, putting the issue of data sharing at a critical turning point,” NEJM editor-in-chief Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com in a statement.

The SPRINT Data Analysis Challenge tasks individuals and groups to identify a novel scientific or clinical result after analyzing the dataset underlying the SPRINT article: A Randomized Trial of Intensive versus Standard Blood-Pressure Control.

The challenge culminates with the Aligning Incentives for Sharing Clinical Trial Data summit in April.

“We believe this will be the start of an ongoing conversation among the three key constituencies – clinical trialists, data analysts, and patient participants — to whom data matters most,” said Drazen.

The community has an opportunity to shape the future of clinical trial data sharing, and the SPRINT Challenge is a step toward that goal,” he added.

Isaac Kohane, M.D. Ph.D., Chair of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Biomedical Informatics and Co-Chair of the SPRINT Challenge described the challenge as “a catalyst for a new framework for data sharing.”

The challenge is open to health care professionals, researchers, and scientists.