Curebase, a company that offers software and support for decentralized testing, has announced a collaboration with virtual reality company AppliedVR, aimed at testing the feasibility of using virtual reality (VR) therapy to treat pain chronic. During the one-year partnership, AppliedVR plans to deploy the Curebase platform to conduct five trials focused on VR therapy for patients with pain.
Tom Lemberg, CEO and founder of Curebase, spoke with Outsourcing-Pharma about the firm’s decentralized testing solutions and details of the partnership for chronic pain with AppliedVR.
OSP: Could you tell us a little bit about Curebase: who you are, what you do, key specialties, and what sets you apart from other companies in this field?
TL: Curebase is a leading software platform and virtual site for decentralized clinical research. The Curebase platform allows any patient and any healthcare provider to be part of a clinical study. This includes the patients ’own doctors, ingenious research providers in community settings, and telemedicine documents.
We are accelerating enrollment and allowing new studio designs with virtually diverse populations, and with community providers in underserved areas. Curebase has unique experience in digital therapy, which has become an important component of all current businesses. Curebase’s unique integrations and APIs allow digital therapy to connect and work in conjunction with Curebase’s clinical workflow.
In addition, Curebase has designed the platform for usability around the study designs on which digital therapeutics are based. Curebase works as a complete eClinical software platform and a virtual search site that can be added to any study, ongoing or just starting out.
OSP: Explain how you joined AppliedVR in this project: Did you connect through an event or partnership, have you worked together on previous projects, etc.?
TL: AppliedVR is committed to being the most evidence-based solution in health and is currently working through its de novo FDA approval. However, the company is very interested in conducting many more studies to demonstrate both the effectiveness of its solution for the treatment of chronic pain and its ability to reduce costs.
So AppliedVR contacted Curebase earlier this year after learning about all the work we’ve been doing in digital therapy. They tried to understand more about how our system was uniquely adapted to digital therapeutic study designs and wanted a partner with that unique experience.
OSP: Please explain a little about virtual reality and some of the ways it has been used in general patient care, in specific pain treatment, and also in clinical research.
TL: The use of virtual reality in healthcare has grown significantly and has been shown in several studies to be a powerful therapeutic for everything from pain reduction to anxiety treatment. It has been used to help veterans cope with many health challenges, including stress and anxiety.
AppliedVR has even deployed its treatments to help with the pain associated with childbirth and wound debridement for victims of severe burns, two of the most painful experiences anyone can face. Now, with the opioid crisis in America still a big problem, AppliedVR is focusing on chronic pain using its EaseVRx solution, which is effective in reducing multiple pain indicators and can be a solid opioid-saving treatment.
OSP: Could you tell us a little bit about AppiedVR’s pain control platform and why it’s right for this project?
TL: AppliedVR has pioneered advancement in the next generation of digital medicine and has created multiple programs to treat both acute and chronic pain. Currently, its EaseVRx platform for the treatment of chronic pain, which a study by Johns Hopkins in the Journal of Pain found that can cost cumulatively up to $ 635 billion a year, more than the annual costs of cancer, diseases of the heart and diabetes, is their main focus.
EaseVRx is an eight-week program that can be self-administered at home, making it a great tool for people with chronic pain. The solution has recently received an innovative designation from the FDA device, and the company hopes to have its de novo approval soon.
Because it is intended for remote pain treatment, this requires a study design that replicates the intended use environment. That’s why Curebase was the perfect fit for all AppliedVR studios. Curebase allows for remote research, so the AppliedVR product can be used by patients at home.
OSP: So, could you share a little more detail on what each partner brings to the table?
TL: The Curebase platform and services will allow AppliedVR to conduct research studies more quickly and in any environment (home, community, etc.). This will allow AppliedVR to obtain the necessary clinical data it needs to build a better set of evidence for both FDA approval and to incorporate taxpayers with the refund.
AppliedVR provides an in-depth understanding of the user experience and clinical endpoints of VR therapy to tailor the most scientifically rigorous study designs that also have the highest degree of patient satisfaction.
OSP: Do you have anything else to add?
TL: We are delighted with the future of this partnership and look forward to sharing the results of the studies in the near future. As digital medicine, and specifically RV, finds more places to have a greater impact on health, the sky is limitless for the category.
Digital therapy as a category shows that not everyone needs pharmacological intervention and solutions like AppliedVR show that digital medicine can not only be effective in treating the most costly and complex health problems, but can also be used as easily as take a pill. .