Need for Speed: Same-Day
Sample Collection and Delivery
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
MISSION
To collect blood samples from RA patients and deliver them to researchers on the same day.
CHALLENGES
Recruit and enroll 10 RA patients living within a 4-hour drive of the research study site.
SOLUTION
Online geotargeting recruitment strategies returned more than 100 potential participants.
Geotargeted Patient Recruitment
Partnering with a leading pharmaceutical company in their quest to identify novel biomarkers of RA for therapeutic targeting, we set out to satisfy their restrictive study design criteria:
- Enroll 10 patients within a defined region who are not taking steroids and ensure sample collection occurs 48 to 72 hours prior to the next dose of a biologic, if applicable.
To meet enrollment goals, we launched outreach campaigns to our existing RA patient member community and leveraged social media's demographic targeting capabilities to engage additional patients. Once a pool of potential participants was identified, their medical records were obtained upon consent, eligibility verified, and summaries provided to researchers.
- More than 100 RA patients answered our call, and a total of 10 representative patients were enrolled.
Who Is at Risk of Developing RA?
The risk of developing RA tends to increase with age. When adjustments are made for both sex and age, it touches approximately 41 out of 100,000 people.¹ ² RA affects folks across the socioeconomic spectrum, with multiple underlying risk factors. This creates a tricky challenge for sampling accurately—a key component of robust translational research.
Same-Day Biospecimen
Procurement and Delivery
Biomarkers with a short half-life in circulation require sample analysis soon after collection to prevent the breakdown of blood components. We recognize that working with the freshest possible samples increases your ability to produce high-quality, reproducible results and thus accommodate same-day collection and delivery requests. In this case, individual 100 mL whole blood samples were collected from the 10 enrolled RA patients living within a 4-hour driving radius of the study sponsor site and delivered to researchers that same day.
Spotlight on the Sanguine Difference
Our direct-to-patient model for biospecimen and data collection enables same-day delivery to expedite research that aims to
improve the therapeutic drug pipeline for RA. By meeting patients in their homes, we increase retention by lowering
participation barriers.
REFERENCES
¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Page last reviewed: July 28, 2020. Page accessed: Feb. 23, 2021. URL: https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/rheumatoid-arthritis.html
² Myasoedova E, Davis J, Matteson EL, Crowson CS. Is the epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis changing? Results from a population-based incidence study, 1985-2014. Ann Rheum Dis 2020; 79(4):440-444.