![](https://www.worldpharmatoday.com/images/nBanners/Docuvera-728x90.jpeg")
UPS Healthcare’s clinical trial logistics unit, Marken, and THREAD, an innovative decentralized clinical trial technology provider, announced a partnership to bring the first ever, unified, decentralized clinical trial solution into patients’ homes. The combined offering brings together THREAD’s digital platform and Marken’s Home Healthcare and clinical trial logistics services to create a single seamless workflow for clients and patients. Sponsors and clinical research organizations will no longer have to manage individual logistics and decentralized clinical trial platform vendors to set up a study. In addition, patients can easily coordinate all aspects of trial participation, from consent to sample analysis, with a single entity.
The modernized workflow and overall integration of Virtual Visit technology with a mobile provider network enables several in-person, coordinated activities that improve the overall experience for the patient, including ease of physical assessments, facilitation of sample and specimen collection, and streamlined UPS Healthcare logistics services. Additionally, the platform includes eConsent, eCOA, telehealth Virtual Visits, patient engagement and eSource, along with other features, to make digital recruitment easier. Integrating these features within one common workflow simplifies the clinical trial study visit to a participant’s home, easing the burden for patients and providers.
“UPS Healthcare and our Marken unit have an ongoing commitment to investing in the latest technologies and digital innovations to improve the overall patient experience,” said Wes Wheeler, UPS Healthcare president. “This partnership with THREAD is the first step in redefining the clinical trial experience across the industry, making the delivery of critical treatments more efficient and expediting care for patients.”
“Marken’s combination of home health and clinical trial logistics services are industry-leading,” said John Reites, CEO, THREAD. “Partnering with UPS, we are excited to bring together THREAD and Marken’s complementary capabilities to provide a uniquely comprehensive, flexible and inclusive data collection model for our decentralized clinical trial customers.”
The new technology platform further expands Marken’s patient-centric solution portfolio, which includes Home Healthcare (HHC), Clinical Trial Logistics and Direct-to-Patient/Direct-from-Patient distribution services. Marken remains committed to making clinical trial participation more convenient for patients, resulting in enhanced patient retention and engagement, while also improving the quality of clinical trial data.
About UPS Healthcare and Marken
UPS Healthcare has 11 million square feet of GMP- and GDP-compliant healthcare distribution space in 128 facilities in 32 countries. UPS Healthcare services include: inventory management, temperature-controlled packaging and shipping, storage and fulfillment of medical devices, labs and clinical trial logistics. UPS Healthcare’s global infrastructure, its newest UPS Premier visibility service, its track and trace technology, and its global quality system are well-suited to meet today’s complex logistics demands for the pharmaceutical, medical device and laboratory diagnostic industries.
Marken offers a state-of-the-art GMP-compliant depot network and logistic hubs for clinical drug product storage and distribution in 58 locations worldwide, while maintaining the leading position for Direct-to-Patient and Home Healthcare services, biological sample shipments and biological kit production. Marken’s dedicated 1,691 staff members manage 110,000 drug product and biological sample shipments every month at all temperature ranges in more than 220 countries. Additional services such as ancillary material sourcing, storage and distribution, shipment lane verification and qualifications, as well as GDP, regulatory and compliance consultancy add to Marken’s unique position in the pharma and logistics industry.
Providing flexible supply chain solutions for today’s adaptive trial landscape, we ship materials at all temperature ranges to investigator sites, depots, and directly to patients’ homes.
About THREAD
THREAD is a leading provider of a proprietary, decentralized research platform and suite of supporting services used by biopharma, CROs and life science organizations to remotely capture data from participants and sites during, in-between and in lieu of in-clinic visits. THREAD’s platform and supporting services are helping customers to shorten study launch timelines, reduce study budgets with Virtual Visits, and bring studies from the clinic to patients’ homes. THREAD provides key platform features such as eConsent, eCOA/ePRO, sensors, reminders, and telehealth Virtual Visits to support remote data capture, hybrid virtual studies, and fully decentralized studies in key therapeutic areas. In 2019, THREAD was acquired by strategic health care investors Water Street Healthcare Partners and JLL Partners.
