It’s International Clinical Trials Day this Saturday; you could say every day is Clinical Trials Day this year in Canada, with the launch of the Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) pan-Canadian consortium*.
Clinical Trials Day is celebrated globally on May 20th to recognize the day that James Lind, a ship’s surgeon in the British Royal Navy, started what is often considered the first randomized clinical trial – to study the effects of different treatments on scurvy in sailors on May 20, 1774. (Apparently British sailors were nicknamed ‘limeys’ for the limes, lemons, etc. they subsequently carried aboard as sources of vitamin C.)
This was also Canadian Innovation Week – which is timely for us in our involvement in ACT, the pan-Canadian consortium connecting biotechnology/digital health companies with clinical trialists (among many objectives over the next three years).
At ACT’s recent first annual meeting, attended by more than 300 clinical trialists and partners across Canada, almost four dozen biotechnology companies were represented – most of them making short pitches to the attendees about how their products could be used in clinical trials.
Some of these, and others, had biotech/digital health companies had exhibitor booths at ACT’s two-day event last month in Hamilton, Ontario. (Full list of biotech companies at end of this PDF agenda.)
Watch this video of several biotech/med devices/AI companies that presented at the ACT 1st annual meeting, 2023.
Follow PHRI’s public Twitter list of health technology providers.
*The ACT pan-Canadian consortium brings together hundreds of researchers from 28 networks, 11 trial units, patient-partners, the biotechnology industry, government, and experts in research ethics review processes, contracts, insurance, regulatory processes, patient engagement, clinical trials training, communications, knowledge mobilization – from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and Nunavut.
Follow PHRI’s public Twitter list of ACT/AEC consortium participants.
