"CenterWatch is the hub of clinical trials Web sites"

Pharmacists who want to scope out authoritative information about clinical trials across many different disease states might want to make CenterWatch their World Wide Web destination of choice. The CenterWatch Web site lists more than 7,200 clinical trials that are actively seeking patients all around the world.

Located at www.centerwatch.com, the site has earned a "Top 5%" rating from Starting Point, a free service that reviews and rates the best sites on the World Wide Web. The listings can be searched by therapeutic area or by geographic regions. For example, there are 149 trials being conducted on asthma. Hot links take users to the home pages of a particular study for detailed information, such as patient eligibility and the name and telephone number of the contact person.

The CenterWatch listings have recently been upgraded to include government-funded clinical research studies being conducted by the various National Institutes of Health at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD. The site includes information about how to refer patients to a particular study and a clinical trials search engine for full-text searches with or without eligibility criteria.

"We've seen over the last several years that patients are far more motivated to learn all they can about their illness and treatment options," said Ken Getz, president of CenterWatch, a Boston-based publishing firm cover the clinical trials industry. "They turn to health professionals they trust to give them even more comprehensive information about those options. Clearly, pharmacists are regarded as one of the most trusted patient advisors, and it all comes down to providing the best possible information to the patient community that they serve."

The Web site grew out of the demands of patients who wanted to subscribe to CenterWatch's clinical trials industry newsletter launched in 1995, said Getz. The company worked with patients to design the Web site and talked to the Food & Drug Administration to comply with good clinical practice guidelines. The site logs about 160,000 visits per month; about 85% of them are patients, but many R.Ph.s also check in for studies in their geographic areas. The firm is developing a phone-in system to accommodate patients without Internet access.

The CenterWatch site has two arms: one focused on resources for patients and a separate area devoted to resources for clinical trial industry professionals. The consumer section lists the clinical trials and NIH studies, but users can also sign up to be notifies through confidential e-mail messages when new trials are posted in particular therapeutic areas. There's also a list of drugs in various therapeutic areas that have been recently approved by the FDA. Research headlines feature news and reports on advances in clinical research, courtesy of CenterWatch in collaboration with the Physicians' Desk Reference, PDR.net, and American Health Consultants. Users new to clinical trials can consult a primer on the way clinical research is conducted, a glossary of common terms, and how to participate in trials. Patients and patient advocates can also click on other hot-linked health-related Web sites. The topics range from asthma to oncology to trauma and toxicology. There are also links to search engines and general resources, such as the National Library of Medicine and PharmInfoNet.

Industry professional resources on the Web site include profiles of companies that provide contract services to the clinical trials industry and profiles of more than 150 clinical research centers. There's also a jobwatch section that posts help-wanted blurbs - some for Pharm.D.s - and information about upcoming conferences and training seminars related to clinical trials.

The clinical trials listing is a free service (for patients) from CenterWatch. The company's commercial products include a monthly newsletter devoted to the clinical trials industry, a weekly fax newsletter on the latest business and financial news, a monthly bulletin with job openings and educational opportunities and conferences, and an annual industry directory. The firm also publishes The Investigator's Guide to Clinical Research, a step-by-step guide for physicians and pharmacists interested in getting involved in clinical research.

There are other clinical trials sites on the Web, but some of them are really patient-recruitment efforts for profit. "Those Web sites fail to empower the patient," said Getz. "They're taking data, repackaging it, and reselling. Patients are led to believe it's a comprehensive referral when they are really being referred to a limited number of trials. Someone else is making the decision for the patient, and the patient loses. Our goal is to make information as accessible to patients as possible. That way, everybody wins."

Drug Topics Magazine, April 19, 1999