Curebase, Portamedic Partner to Support Decentralized Clinical Trials with Mobile Phlebotomy Services

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Curebase, a company committed to democratizing access to clinical studies, and Portamedic, which provides mobile examination and mobile phlebotomy services in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, have announced an ongoing partnership in which Portamedic will collect blood samples and other tests from participating decentralized clinical trial patients' homes throughout the U.S.

Portamedic supports the clinical trials, telehealth and consumer-facing blood testing market.

The two companies currently are working with Persephone Biosciences, a startup investigating the human microbial ecosystem's effect on therapeutic treatment, diagnostics and disease prevention, on a long-term clinical study of patients with colorectal cancer. The decentralized clinical trial (DCT) involves collecting stool and blood specimens from 350 study volunteers with colorectal cancer as well as 1,000 healthy people who are categorized as either low risk or high risk for the disease.

Begun early this year, this clinical trial is part of ARGONAUT, a longitudinal, observational study of 4,000 advanced-stage cancer patients and healthy individuals with varying cancer risk. The data collected can be used to develop precision microbiome medicines and to identify clinically actionable cancer-specific biomarkers for guiding therapeutic decisions. A priority of the ARGONAUT study is to enroll a diverse patient population, emphasizing patients from minority groups.

Portamedic and Curebase will continue to collaborate on upcoming decentralized clinical trials to expand the number of potential participants and enable greater diversity.

"The mobile phlebotomy services Portamedic provides makes it easier for people to participate in clinical trials because they don't have to travel to a site or some other central location to get their blood drawn," said Jim Fritz, president and chief operating officer of Portamedic. "We've already been working with Curebase on clinical trials and we look forward to partnering with them on upcoming studies."

Curebase's decentralized clinical trial model ensures more diverse studies because unique populations – which typically are underrepresented in clinical trials – can be included. The Curebase platform empowers sponsors, CROs and physicians from practices of all sizes to conduct clinical research, including private practices, independent clinics, and large academic research sites.

"These kinds of partnerships are critical to expanding access to clinical trials," said Curebase CEO and founder Tom Lemberg. "We're excited about continuing our collaboration with Portamedic on bringing more diversity and inclusion into clinical studies, which will result in safer and more effective pharmaceuticals."

At Curebase, our mission is to bring quality medical innovations to patients faster and improve human wellbeing through more efficient clinical studies. We are proving that clinical research can be radically accelerated if we empower physicians everywhere to enroll patients in the communities where they live. By applying cutting edge clinical software and remote study management techniques to the problem, we are reinventing clinical trials and research from the ground up. For more information, please visit www.curebase.com.

With over 48 years of mobile phlebotomy experience, Portamedic has the skill and reach to help make clinical trials seamless and professional.  We maintain a network of thousands of phlebotomists and 100 offices across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This past year, Portamedic is proud to have completed 2 million safe and successful mobile blood draws throughout the country.  For more information, please visit us at www.portamedic.com

Media Contacts:

Shawn Malloy 
[email protected]  
315-882-5310

Adam Beeson 
Amendola Communications (for Curebase) 
847-867-0048

SOURCE Curebase