Cervical Dystonia Clinical Trial

Cervical Dystonia (CD) is a condition associated with abnormal movements of the neck and head, which may result in considerable pain and discomfort. Academic Network conducted a clinical trial recruitment campaign for a new medication for CD by a European pharmaceutical company that specializes in addressing unmet medical needs with innovative health care solutions. The campaign was conducted in conjunction with Fleishman-Hillard, an international public relations company with offices throughout the world.

The study required the enrollment of 222 patients with cervical dystonia, of whom 39% had to be treatment-naïve, within nine months of its Phase III movement disorder study. Challenges to achieving this goal included a small patient population, aggressive timeframe, unengaged study sites, and the similarity of the compound to one already available.

Academic Network’s call center staff educated CD patients about the opportunity to participate in the study utilizing an extensive patient organization outreach campaign and an in-depth prescreening process. Academic Network’s medical professionals engaged participating study sites with extensive recruitment support and followed up with every potential patient referral. Targeted outreach strategies drove more than 3,200 calls to the call center; 47% of the contacts completed the prescreening and 52% of those were referred to study sites for follow-up. Ultimately, 30% of the study’s treatment-naïve participants and 14% of pretreated participants were recruited through the Academic Network campaign.