Clinical trials are broken for patients, researchers, and biopharma sponsors.
Every year, 86% of trials are delayed due to lack of enrollment, costing sponsors up to $8 million a day. Yet, less than 5% of U.S. patients partake in potentially life-changing trials. Patients wrestle with dense jargon, unclear tradeoffs, and an opaque, time-consuming enrollment process. One look at clinicaltrials.gov tells you all you need to know.
I witnessed this firsthand when my father was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. We nearly missed a critical trial, waiting weeks between hospital transfers and provider referrals. While we were lucky to find an academic hospital, many American patients must advocate for themselves. Only 36% of participants hear about a trial from their doctor.
With increasing patient demand for self-help paired with archaic systems, we’ve seen a new model emerge to own the patient relationship and capture intent. This is why we are so excited to back Power.
Power built a patient-led marketplace and recruitment management platform, flipping the traditional outbound model on its head. While there have been previous attempts to tackle patient recruitment, many were relegated to ad agency models without proper follow-through from research sites. With its network of high-intent patients, Power is able to access a more diverse patient base, encourage patients to share their electronic medical record (EMR), and ultimately deliver EMR qualified leads. This is a deceivingly simple step that saves time for both patients and researchers. Over 600,000 patients used Power to discover clinical trials last year.
But most important to us was the Power team. When we met Brandon and Bask, we were struck by their ambition to solve a problem that hit close to home. Therapeutic options should be easily accessible to all patients — regardless of geographical location, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background.
Today, we couldn’t be more thrilled to co-lead Power’s $12 million Series A, alongside our friends Nikhil Basu Trivedi at Footwork and Kin Ventures.
Unlocking access for patients is only act one. We believe Power has the potential to redefine how patients, researchers, and life science partners interact in the clinical trial system.
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