A new patent has been issued to Moffitt Cancer Center for a computerized system that efficiently selects the right patient for the right clinical trial.

The computer system, Patent Number U.S. 8,095,389 B2, or "Computer Systems and Methods for Selecting Patients for Clinical Trials," matches the registered patient's own molecular profile—warehoused in a database of thousands of patient-donated biological tissue or tumor samples—to the molecular design of the drug aimed at targeting the disease at the molecular level, and does it quickly. The system aims to accelerate clinical trials and help shorten the time it takes to get critically needed new drugs into the market.

The newly patented computer system is designed to:

• Select patients to clinical trials matching an individual's/drug's molecular profile
• Match patients to clinical trials by a patient's disease/diagnosis
• Match patients to clinical trials by their symptoms
• Match patients to clinical trials by their demographic information and family history
• Track a clinical trial participant's disease progression compared to drug efficacy

According to Moffitt Cancer Center, this technology has the potential to refine clinical trials by eliminating bottlenecks, overhauling the selection process and shortening the timeline, ultimately bringing new drugs to market more efficiently. Furthermore, personalizing the selection process for clinical trials is a key step toward making personalized medicine a reality.