Faster, better, safer: How clinical trials can be transformed by Equivital wearable technology

A UK-based mobile human monitoring company is making waves in health care as it aims to revolutionize the way clinical trial data is collected. Privately-owned Hidalgo, based in Cambridge, has developed Equivital, the market-leading brand for mobile human monitoring solutions and real world data services. Clinical director Dr Ekta Sood spoke to The Pharma Letter’s Sophie Flowers about how it could change the face of clinical trials for the industry.

Imagine a way of making clinical trials more streamlined and efficient – to speed up ways of monitoring compliance, pick up any safety issues early on, and collect quality real world data (RWD) from trial participants in the comfort of their own homes. Some savvy pharma companies have already picked up on the next big thing in data collection and are trialing wearable technology in clinical studies using the second generation Equivital LifeMonitor. It consists of a soft sensor belt, worn across the body, and a mobile app or docking station to which vital data from the body is transmitted. The technology has already been used in various industries to collect RWD, including the elite US Marine Corps. In sport, it’s been used to track training by UK Sport athletes, and has even been deployed to monitor the core temperature of Australian firefighters whilst on duty. But it’s in healthcare that the technology is really coming into its own, led by the pharma industry.

While its possible uses are far and wide, Dr Sood explains that essentially the company is interested in what affects the human body in a real world environment. It focuses on tracking how the body is responding to various stimuli in the real world, internal and external, and then creating technical solutions that can make sense of the collected information. She explained: “We’ve only just started to scratch the surface of what the body is doing in the real world. The key point is making the data useful to clinical safety efficacy.”