Today, we are excited to tell you more about the IDEA Pharma and Exploristics partnership. IDEA’s COO, Jacqui Barendregt, asked Exploristics Founder and CEO Aiden Flynn five key questions about the innovative service model and, most importantly, the value to the pharmaceutical industry this newly formed partnership will bring.
Listen to the full interview here:
1. How are Exploristics’ analytical services and software, like KerusCloud, shaping the future of clinical trial design, and how might this transform the biopharma landscape?
I have been working in statistics and clinical trials for around 30 years and observing behaviors that contribute to the failure of drug development programs. At Exploristics, statistics and data science are at the heart of clinical development decision-making. KerusCloud allows us to build virtual patient populations using available data, which we then use to evaluate various clinical trial design options, analysis strategies, and definitions of success. This setup helps us set the clinical trial up for success and avoid common mistakes.
“One of the key problems within pharma and biotech is that there isn’t enough time or resource invested into the design process and the potential impact of critical decisions” – Aiden Flynn, CEO, Exploristics
2. The pharmaceutical industry is undergoing rapid changes due to technological advancements like generative AI. In what ways does Exploristics’ approach to smart analytics and simulation directly address the industry’s current challenges?
A major issue in pharma and biotech is the insufficient time and money invested in the design process. Companies often rush into studies without fully understanding the impact of their decisions. Using simulation is a core part of our proposed decision-making process, allowing for more informed decisions. For example, our work in the precision medicine space involved evaluating strategies for using biomarkers derived from blood samples to identify patient subgroups. A completely retrospective approach had historically low success rates, whereas more prospective planning around how and when to use the samples drastically improved the success rates without increasing the cost. By strategically using data, we aim to avoid costly failures and apply this approach to any new technology in the pharma industry.
3. Our partnership aims to enhance biopharma capabilities. How do you envision this partnership will make a difference to path-to-market strategies for new therapies?
Our companies have great philosophical alignment on how to solve pharma’s challenges. Our partnership solidifies a data-driven, quantitative approach, integrating the views of multiple stakeholders like commercial, statistics, regulatory, and operational teams. By not operating in silos and using a forward-thinking design strategy, we aim to significantly enhance decision-making and the likelihood of success, moving away from purely hypothetical discussions.
“Great molecules with great process do much better than great molecules with an average or traditional process” – Jacqueline Barendregt, COO, IDEA Pharma
4. The integration of data-driven decision-making in drug development is crucial. Could you provide an example of how Exploristics’ service has significantly improved the probability of success for a clinical trial?
One example involves a client conducting an RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) study in infants. We used simulation to determine the most efficient method for collecting and analysing viral load data, which significantly changed operational aspects, reduced the burden on the patient and reduced the study timeline to one season, maintaining the same probability of success.
5. Looking towards the future, what are you most excited about the potential of our partnership, and what should the pharmaceutical industry expect as a result of this collaboration?
Like most people I know in the industry, we are passionate about bringing new life-changing or life-saving treatments to patients. It’s not about our tools but about the real-world applications and the impact they can have. I’m excited about our ability to reduce uncertainty in phase two proof-of-concept studies, where the risk of failure is highest. By potentially doubling the chance of success and applying this across a portfolio, we can greatly reduce the cost per treatment, reduce patient burden and work towards affordable and sustainable healthcare. Our partnership also aims to bring expertise and capabilities to small biotech companies, which drive innovation in our industry and allow them to utilise their resources and talent more effectively and efficiently in a resource-constraint environment.
Further information about IDEA Pharma can be found here
Further information about Exploristics can be found here
Further information regarding KerusCloud can be found here