- Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) announced it is partnering with the NIH to help end HIV. These are the details.
The HIV Vaccine Trials Network – an organization funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the NIH – launched a new HIV awareness campaign and the Red Ribbon Registry with the goal of helping end HIV. And built by Oracle, the unique cloud-based registry makes it easy for anyone to volunteer to be considered for an HIV clinical study, getting us one step closer to a cure.
This registry expands on Oracle’s work with the NIH and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And Oracle developed the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) Volunteer Screening Registry that was used to capture and analyze nearly 700,000 participant registrations for COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics clinical studies in just 6 months.
The Red Ribbon Registry is aiming to bring the same technological innovation and urgency of the COVID-19 response to the global search for a preventive HIV vaccine, improved therapeutics, and a cure. And it is estimated that more than 700,000 people have died from HIV-related illnesses in the U.S., with approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV today, and nearly 40,000 new diagnoses each year. Globally, over 35 million people have died from HIV. With the Oracle Digital Recruitment cloud technology, the program is going to initially support dozens of clinical trial sites across the U.S. that are actively recruiting volunteers for HIV treatment and prevention studies.
With Oracle Digital Recruitment anyone can volunteer for a study from their desktop or mobile device. And authorized researchers can then use this information to analyze volunteer data, contact individuals best suited to participate, and match them to a clinical study. Using the engagement tools in the system, organizers can easily share information and keep participants apprised of the next steps or other potential opportunities.
KEY QUOTES:
“The urgency to find answers to COVID-19 completely changed how the industry approached clinical studies. We were able to break down the traditional study silos to work in a public/private partnership to crowd-source volunteers – anyone, from anywhere in the U.S. – that ultimately helped get a vaccine to market in less than a year. This is the future of clinical research, and we are taking all we learned and built during COVID-19 and applying it to other public health issues, like HIV.”
— Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle Industries
“While HIV awareness has taken a back seat in recent years, much of the progress and success of the COVID-19 vaccines was on the shoulders of HIV vaccine research. Continuing our work with Oracle during the COVID-19 pandemic and building on the success of the registry approach is an example of giving back to the HIV research community for the foundational work on COVID-19. We want to ensure that we’re doing all we can to continue the momentum gained from tremendous enthusiasm of the public to participate in COVID-19 research and making people aware that there are options for them to help fight these debilitating diseases and be better prepared for future pandemics.”
— Jim Kublin, M.D., M.P.H., and Principal Staff Scientist in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutch
