Faeth Therapeutics partners for ‘maximal participation’ in remote cancer trial

Faeth Therapuetics partners with xCures and Vault Health to bolster enrollment for the therapeutic company’s recently launched remote pancreatic cancer trial. The partnership is set to help enroll patients regardless of country in Faeth’s NEAR-001.

The trial will have some traditional sites but patients will sign up through Xcures which will act as a sort of virtual site. Any additional blood draws or other treatments are done at the patients house through Faeth’s contract with Vault Health.

“This [partnership] allows for maximal participation from all groups and doesn’t require the significant travel burdens many trials have,”​ said Anand Parikh, CEO of Faeth.

The partnership with xCures and Vault Health intends to remove the travel and life disruptions as Parikh explained that the partnership “brings the trial to the patient rather than the requiring the patient to rewire their life to participate in the trial.” ​

He explained that the need for remote trials often pertains to inclusion, “Trials have traditionally been challenging for anyone other than the wealthiest patients.”​ Parikh added: “They [trials] often require extensive travel and the ability to shift or altogether give up familial or work obligations.” ​

Through the partnership patients will have greater accessibility to enroll in the trial without going through their oncologist. “It [the partnership] removes the role of the oncologist as gatekeeper to the trial,”​ said Parikh.

Ease of education and enrollment via the partnership between Faeth, xCures, and Vault, is in part that patients will no longer need to live near a participating academic medical center. Parikh stated, “Patients can learn about the trial, educate themselves on our approach and then have a consultative discussion with their oncologist about whether this could be a good idea.” ​

Enrollment criteria for NEAR-001 are broad but focus on metastatic or locally advanced disease. The trial is focused on evaluating the tolerability and markers of pancreatic cancer with a specially designed medical food restricted in specific amino acids for dietary management of patients.

Patients will receive two Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug therapies, gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, as part of their routine care.