In a recent interview with Applied Clinical Trials, Kelli Aufderheide, director, laboratory decentralized trial solutions, IQVIA Laboratories, discussed the benefits of central and local labs for clinical trials. Central labs offer harmonized test menus, standardized data collection, and global reach, ensuring consistent results across labs. Local labs, often co-located with investigator sites, provide quick turnaround times crucial for urgent patient care. In a world of complex clinical trials, stakeholders should support sites by focusing on planning, training, and incorporating feedback to streamline processes and reduce manual work.
A transcript of Aufderheide’s conversation with ACT can be found below.
ACT: Depending on the complexities of the clinical trial, especially if it’s a global study, how do central labs help ensure data standardization and consistency across lab testing needed for a trial?
Aufderheide: As stated, the globally harmonized and broad test menu is really where our focus is. We have the ability to harmonize across all of our labs. IQVIA Labs has labs around the world. We are a global company. We have testing labs in many of the countries that we work in, and so having a test menu that is the same, the sponsor is going to get the same test no matter which of our labs that that test is being performed at. All of our tests follow globally harmonized standard operating procedures, and we ensure that we are harmonized to the requirements of the protocol. That’s really the focus, and also the broadness of our test menu, we have the ability to perform testing across the spectrum of what could be needed in a clinical trial.