“Direct to Patient is growing at an exponential rate at the same time that the industry is experiencing the expansion of virtual trials as well,” said Ariette van Strien, chief commercial officer of Marken, a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS.
Using the existing UPS network will provide nurses who perform in-home phlebotomy services as part of a clinical trial the ability to work around a patient’s schedule, van Strien said.
“The end result is a reduction in the amount of disruption to a patient’s life while they are participating in a clinical trial,” she added.
“The more the patient retains their normal day to day schedules, with less disruption, the more likely that patients will remain in the clinical trial, which will hopefully reduce the dropout rate, thereby contributing to the successful conclusion of a trial, which in turn will help researchers to bring more treatments and clinical drug product to patients sooner.”
According to the Marken, approximately 84% of the US population lives within 10 miles of a UPS store. The locations have the ability to handle pre-packed, pre-paid shipments at all temperature ranges, including ambient, refrigerated, and frozen samples.
As part of the new offering, Marken will manage shipment bookings with UPS to ensure protocol compliance, patient data blinding, and data encryption.
“Combining the services of Marken and the UPS network is a natural extension of the services we can offer through an already existing and expansive network,” said van Strien.