Synexus shines a light on recruitment at South African’s first Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials Conference

At the first Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials Conference held in South Africa, Dr Sanet Aspinall, Managing Director of Synexus in South Africa, emphasised the importance of being part of a global network which means that it is increasingly likely to be included in international trials rather than purely local studies.Being part of a company which has a global presence has meant that our opportunities for growth in South Africa have been far greater. The Synexus model, with its 26 Dedicated Research Centres, means we can randomise thousands of patients for a single trial and our results are attracting considerable interest. It is very encouraging that South Africa is now playing an important role in a great many international clinical trials. I believe there is significant scope for strong long-term growth here, particularly when you consider that South Africa had highly qualified medical professionals, a large, treatment naive population and a prevalence of infectious diseases.The Synexus paper, Optimising Patient Recruitment; The Synexus Global Experience, was presented to 200 conference delegates from the clinical trials industry in South Africa, including senior healthcare professionals as well as representatives from top pharma and biotechs.Dr Aspinall, who leads Synexus operations in South Africa, told the audience how the company's recruitment model helps achieve four primary objectives: achieving recruitment targets within a set timeframe; ensuring high levels of patient retention; delivering consistently high quality data and providing best value for the customer.Commenting on Synexus experience in South Africa, Dr Aspinall said:The clinical trials industry continues to grow in South Africa, particularly in response to the globalization of clinical trials, and we must ensure that it continues to deliver first class results. We have worked very hard to develop our outreach programmes as well as our direct to patient communication via advertising and direct mail for example, we now also use SMS messaging as part of our recruitment and retention campaigns. More and more sponsors are appreciating the leverage that a dedicated patient recruitment company like Synexus can offer.Michael Fort, Chief Executive of Synexus said that he was delighted that Dr Aspinall had been invited to take part in this inaugural conference: Dr Aspinall has vast experience in the clinical trials industry in South Africa, her knowledge of the industry is excellent and I am delighted that she was asked to share some of this with conference delegates. Synexus business in South Africa is continuing to expand, the large urban population and the excellent medical facilities in the country are a significant advantage.