Boehringer, IBM to test blockchain technology can help in clinical trials

Canadian Boehringer Ingelheim and IBM Canada want to find out how blockchain technology can help in clinical trials, the Boehringer said Tuesday in a press release.

This would be the first time that blockchain technology to be explored in a clinical trial setting in Canada, Boehringer said, noting that there is enough room to improve the quality of clinical trials, and record keeping. The Canadian companies will test if blockchain technology in clinical trials can enable cheaper, faster, and safer data integrity, provenance, transparency, and patient empowerment.

Dr. Uli Brödl, Vice President, Medical and Regulatory Affairs, Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd, said: “The clinical trial ecosystem is highly complex as it involves different stakeholders, resulting in limited trust, transparency and process inefficiencies without true patient empowerment. Patients are at the heart of everything we do, so we are looking into novel solutions to improve patient safety and empowerment.”