Celebrating a decade of Moravian collaboration in clinical studies

Representatives of Brno hospitals and IQVIA gathered on Wednesday, 19^th April 2023, to celebrate 10 years of collaboration in innovative clinical studies. Members of the Moravian Prime Site, a unique space for collaboration in the design and implementation of clinical studies, highlighted the benefits of joint activities for research, patients, and the South Moravian Region. They have also encouraged the public to participate in clinical studies, e.g. through the new registry of volunteers.

Five Moravian hospital and outpatient facilities constitute the Moravian Prime Site: St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno (FNUSA), the Military Hospital Brno, the University Hospital Brno (FN Brno), the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute (MOÚ), and Medical Plus outpatient clinic in Uherské Hradiště.

“IQVIA is committed to the advancement of innovative research and development in the healthcare sector, and Moravian Prime Site is a key component of our strategy. By ensuring world class research, patients can have greater access to new therapies and transformed health outcomes in the future” says Dean Summerfield, Senior Vice President, Real World and Commercial Solutions EMEA, IQVIA.

The creation of the Prime Site followed the St Anne’s University Hospital in Brno’s (FNUSA) long-term activities in the field of clinical studies. One of the decisive factors was also the establishment of the International Clinical Research Center (ICRC) in 2011 and the related establishment of a centralized clinical studies department. The ICRC effectively connects research, academic, and applied spheres to bring modern practices from the microscope to physicians’ offices.

As the Director of FNUSA, Ing. Vlastimil Vajdák, stated: “The field of clinical and research studies is an opportunity to bring future treatment closer to patients. In addition to companies such as IQVIA, which bring studies to FNUSA, patients are our key partners, and we value their trust. I am glad that we have managed to connect with the expert teams of other Brno hospitals as well.” Collaboration between hospitals also enables the implementation of extensive studies that an individual subject would not be able to cover.

The Director of FN Brno, Ivo Rovný, MD, MBA, adds: “Clinical studies have become an integral part of patient care at individual FN Brno clinics and cover a wide range of diseases, especially in the fields of oncology and haematology, paediatric oncology, gynaecology, cardiology, neurology, and psychiatry. In some of these areas, FN Brno provides irreplaceable care within Brno and the South Moravian Region.” Thanks to its own Transfusion and Tissue Department, FN Brno can also fully participate in the implementation of studies that include medicinal products for modern therapies and can offer collaboration to other partners.

Moravian Prime Site is fulfilling other goals as well, such as supporting patient involvement in clinical trials. FNUSA has developed a registry for volunteers who want to participate in clinical trials and research. This gives the public the opportunity to contribute to research of  treatments and diagnostic methods for future generations. Other partner institutions offer similar opportunities.

“The Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute has had a more than twenty-year tradition of clinical trials, which are fully integrated into the institute’s operations and care for our patients and remain one of our development priorities. We greatly value the long-term and deepening cooperation with major partners such as IQVIA,” says MOÚ Director, Prof. Marek Svoboda, MD, PhD. “Not only do we expand the possibilities of oncological treatment for our patients, but the field of clinical research has an international reach for MOÚ. This year, we have gained the prestigious status of the European OECI Comprehensive Cancer Center. We are also a centre of the EUCRAN network for rare solid tumours,” he adds.

Moravian Prime Site members recognized the benefits of ten years of cooperation during the meeting, streamlining the entire process of managing clinical trials and, most importantly, enrolling over 2,100 patients in conducted clinical trials. The goal is to accelerate diagnostic processes, predict disease development, and evaluate the effectiveness of new treatment methods.

 

Author: Marta Vrlová, M.A., MPH, Senior PR Specialist ICRC, marta.vrlova@fnusa.cz.

Media contacts:

• Jiří Erlebach, Head of PR and Marketing Dpt, FNUSA Spokesperson, +420 543 182 006. jiri.erlebach@fnusa.cz.
• Sorin Petcu, General Manager Czech Republic and Slovakia, IQVIA, +420 607 020 929, sorin.petcu@iqvia.com
• Václav Janištin, Head of Communications Center in FN Brno, +420 532 232 193, Janistin.Vaclav@fnbrno.cz
• Veronika Plachá, FN Brno Spokesperson, +420 532 231 387

 

About partners:

 

International Clinical Research Center (ICRC) FNUSA and LF MU

We are a modern center of scientific excellence based in Brno, focused on preclinical and clinical research, primarily in the fields of cardiology, neurology, and oncology. We are looking for new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, technologies, and medicines. By implementing our findings into practice, we improve patient care and their quality of life. In July 2022, we became a joint workplace of the Faculty Hospital of St. Anne in Brno (FNUSA) and the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University (LF MU) in Brno. We are developing relationships and cooperation with other key players, both internationally and within our region. Our activities are included in the action plan for the implementation of the #brno2050 strategy. We are helping to shape the future of the #brnoregion.

The Clinical Trials Center (CCS) of ICRC has been the primary contact point for clinical evaluation within FNUSA since 2009. It provides all communication between the faculty hospital and the sponsors of clinical trials or the entities authorized by the sponsor. We are also the contact point for patients participating in specific studies and those interested in being included in the volunteer database. FNUSA currently has around 160 studies running, and CCS negotiates around 40-50 new studies per year. These are studies in almost all clinics, in the fields of cardiology, neurology, and internal medicine.

You can find more information about us at fnusa-icrc.org and fnusa.cz/klinicke-studie

 

Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute – Department of Clinical Trials

Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute in Brno is a top specialized cancer center with supra-regional coverage, a unique healthcare facility in the Czech Republic, and as of 2023, a European OECI Comprehensive Cancer Center. It houses all necessary medical fields to provide comprehensive cancer care, including prevention, epidemiology, diagnosis, individual modalities of anti-cancer therapy, rehabilitation, and public education. The institute focuses on scientific research, including basic research.

The tradition of conducting clinical studies at the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute dates back to the 1970s, when the institute was a significant research partner in the development of new cytostatic. In 2000, as the first of its kind in the Czech Republic, the Department of Clinical Studies (OKS) was established, providing complete organizational, administrative, and professional support for clinical studies at MOÚ. It prepares all contractual and academic clinical evaluations, and after their initiation, a team of experienced study coordinators, study nurses, and data managers coordinates and conducts study visits according to the protocol, participates in patient recruitment, and manages data and communication with the sponsor. The department also provides training for clinical study coordinators across the Czech Republic.

Currently, MOÚ initiates approximately 25 new phase I-III clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumours each year, involving around 300 patients annually. Since 2012, MOÚ has also had a clinical trial unit for phase I studies, and in 2022, it obtained the SÚKL certificate for conducting first-in-human clinical trials.

More information about us can be found at mou.cz and mou.cz/klinicke-studie/t1520, email studie@mou.cz.

 

University Hospital Brno – Unit of the Deputy Director for Science and Research

 FN Brno is the second largest healthcare facility in the Czech Republic and a hospital of European importance, as evidenced, among other things, by its participation in six European Reference Networks (ERN). Since 2012, FN Brno has been registered in the Register of Research Organisations and since 2015 has been involved in the activities of the research infrastructure supporting academic clinical trials CZECRIN. It also cooperates with CEITEC and RECETOX in the field of applied and, to a lesser extent, basic research.

Science and research at the Brno University Hospital is related to its core business, i.e. healthcare, and thanks to this it takes advantage of the unique availability of patient data and clinical procedures that are essential for clinical research projects, including clinical trials. The Clinical Trials Department (OKS), which is part of the Unit of the Deputy Director for Science and Research, provides administrative and coordination support for the implementation of clinical trials at individual clinics of the Brno University Hospital. It participates in the preparation of contracts and, for ongoing clinical trials, the team of study coordinators of the OKS is involved in all phases of their implementation. More than 100 new applications for clinical trials, including academic trials, are processed annually at FN Brno. These are now also increasingly becoming part of grant and other research projects. Approximately 70 new clinical trials are initiated annually at FN Brno.

More information about us can be found at: www.fnbrno.cz and https://www.fnbrno.cz/utvar-namestka-pro-vedu-a-vyzkum/t4557

 

About IQVIA

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) is a leading global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry. IQVIA creates intelligent connections across all aspects of healthcare through its analytics, transformative technology, big data resources and extensive domain expertise. IQVIA Connected Intelligence™ delivers powerful insights with speed and agility — enabling customers to accelerate the clinical development and commercialization of innovative medical treatments that improve healthcare outcomes for patients. With approximately 86,000 employees, IQVIA conducts operations in more than 100 countries.

IQVIA is a global leader in protecting individual patient privacy. The company uses a wide variety of privacy-enhancing technologies and safeguards to protect individual privacy while generating and analyzing information on a scale that helps healthcare stakeholders identify disease patterns and correlate with the precise treatment path and therapy needed for better outcomes. IQVIA’s insights and execution capabilities help biotech, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, medical researchers, government agencies, payers and other healthcare stakeholders tap into a deeper understanding of diseases, human behaviors and scientific advances, in an effort to advance their path toward cures.

To learn more, visit iqvia.com.