Service locates lost trial subjects, data

As Avandia maker GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) wrestles with the subject and data fallout of the FDA-imposed hold on its TIDE trial, it may want to check in with service provider L2FU, a company that specializes in locating, contacting and collecting data from patients deemed "lost to follow-up." Most trials experience some level of subject disconnects; a clinical trial hold can only boost that level.

L2FU, part of recruitment and retention specialist MediciGlobal, recently reported the recovery of 100 percent of a study's lost clinical trial patients and the data that go along with them. The company says staff members are trained on procedures required for the licensed access to many databases.

The recovery effort involved tracking subjects located in several states and acquiring new addresses, several years after the subjects had separated from the trial. The FDA accepted the data, according to an announcement, and it proved instrumental in the client study meeting its primary endpoints.

- see the announcement

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