3 Ways VR Can Transform Contract Research
While therapeutic and clinical applications for Virtual Reality (VR) continue to expand, I’ve seen substantially fewer examples of how Contract Research Organizations are leveraging immersive technology. CROs are slated to grow at 6.6% CAGR through 2025, with the market becoming increasingly competitive between thousands of players. Leading organizations will need to continuously innovate and streamline R&D processes to stay ahead of the curve.
We believe there are numerous opportunities for VR to add value to CRO workflows, but the questions are where and how? While this list is not exhaustive, here are three areas that seem ripe for experimentation:
1. Drug Discovery: VR allows chemists to move “beyond the screen” and step into human-scale 3D models of small molecules and complex protein structures. The ability to view a shape from an unlimited number of angles can be particularly useful in understanding why it does not bind with a target. For example, Novartis is using VR to help research teams accelerate iteration cycles in novel drug development.
2. Patient Adherence: VR can be used to combat non-adherence by clinical trial subjects by providing complex medical information in highly memorable, intuitive ways. For example, HIV patients were significantly more adherent after viewing a 7-minute interactive VR experience explaining how antiretroviral therapy improved immune cells ability to respond to bacterial infection. Another impressive result: 94% of study participants said the VR experience made them more likely to take their medications.
3. Clinical Trials Recruitment: With two out of three of studies failing to meet enrollment goals, there could be in opportunity to borrow ideas from other industries that have begun using VR for traditional recruiting. VR could provide an engaging way to educate patients on new treatments and requirements for trial participation, and could serve as a differentiator for subjects presented with multiple trial options.
Written by Joshua Setzer
CEO and Co-Founder, Lucid Dream VR
