Horsham, Penn.-based Acurian, a provider of global patient enrollment and retention solutions, has expanded its opted-in database to over 70 million people. These people have self-reported specific ailments and provided permission to be contacted exclusively by Acurian for clinical trial opportunities.

In 2011, Acurian contacted over 18 million people using its proprietary recruitment database, supporting clinical trial enrollment for studies in therapeutic areas including diabetes, opioid-induced constipation, depression, asthma, COPD, back pain, bipolar disorder, female sexual dysfunction and hypertension.

While other recruitment companies and CROs maintain databases typically gathered via online disease communities, the largest of these communities is under four million individuals.

“We have a significant advantage in trial enrollment services due to the sheer size of our patient database and unparalleled access to potential trial participants,” said Rick Malcolm, Acurian’s CEO. “Only a database with this size and scope can contribute hundreds or thousands of patients quickly across multi-protocol studies. Online disease communities are an important part of the new trial landscape, but alone they simply cannot provide the patient demand for increasingly large studies or those with complicated protocol designs.”

Acurian also reported significant growth in global access to patients through both online and offline media channels. Use of social media and online health networks increased over 200% from previous years, leading to hundreds of millions of clinical trial impressions and click-throughs worldwide. Penetration via television and print led to 81% of the U.S. population being exposed to at least one clinical trial opportunity sponsored by an Acurian customer.

“Our industry is struggling to find innovative ways to manage trial costs while completing enrollment on time,” continued Malcolm. “Strategic CRO alliances and new technologies sound promising on the surface, but fall short in our opinion compared to proven solutions that combine far-reaching patient access with enrollment best practices. These solutions are available today and enable our customers to complete enrollment without adding sites or time.”