The clinical trial landscape is poised for a major transformation as YonaLink, a Boston-based healthcare technology company, secures $6 million in funding led by Debiopharm Innovation Fund, with participation from eHealth Ventures and the European Union. The investment aims to accelerate the company's mission to modernize clinical trial operations through innovative data streaming technology.
Addressing Critical Inefficiencies in Clinical Trial Data Management
Clinical trials currently face a significant bottleneck in data management, with an average delay of six to eight weeks between data capture in electronic health records (EHR) and transfer to electronic data capture (EDC) systems. This manual process consumes up to 45% of clinical trial budgets and introduces potential errors that can delay trial progress.
"There's no other industry where we capture data in this way," explains Iddo Peleg, CEO and co-founder of YonaLink. "We're trying to register lifesaving therapies, but we have to collect the data manually, and often the FDA and EMA inspectors have to visit trial sites to validate the data. It's simply a waste of resources."
Revolutionary Technology Solution
YonaLink's platform introduces real-time data streaming capabilities that bridge the interoperability gap between EHR and EDC systems. The technology reduces data transfer time from weeks to hours and decreases costs from thousands to hundreds of dollars per trial.
The solution particularly benefits:
- Small hospitals and medical centers previously unable to participate in clinical trials
- Research staff by reducing manual data entry burden
- Trial sponsors through improved data quality and faster insights
- Patients through increased access to clinical trials, especially in underserved areas
Expanding Global Access to Clinical Trials
The funding will support YonaLink's expansion beyond its current operations in Israel, the United States, and Spain. This growth is particularly timely given concerning trends in clinical trial access, such as the 44% reduction in patient access to trials in the UK since 2017.
"When you can stream data, you can make clinical trials accessible to patients anywhere," says Peleg, drawing a parallel to global banking systems. This technological advancement could particularly impact cancer research, where currently only 5% of patients have access to clinical trials.
Future Impact on Clinical Research
Industry experts predict that EHR-to-EDC linkage and data streaming will become the standard for clinical trials within the next five years. The transformation promises to:
- Accelerate the development of new therapies
- Improve trial data quality and reliability
- Reduce operational costs
- Enable more diverse patient participation
- Support global health equity initiatives
"We're helping foster clinical trials into a world where there's more patient access to clinical trials, and lifesaving therapies can come to market faster," says Gav Martell, co-founder and vice president of business development at YonaLink.
Technology Implementation and Benefits
The platform's implementation has shown significant operational improvements:
- Reduction in data transfer time from 6-8 weeks to hours
- 90% decrease in data management costs
- Real-time insight into trial progress across all sites
- Improved staff efficiency and satisfaction
- Enhanced data accuracy through automated transfers
As clinical trials continue to evolve, YonaLink's technology represents a crucial step toward more efficient, accessible, and equitable medical research. The partnership with Debiopharm Innovation Fund positions the company to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of clinical trial operations worldwide.
