TOUCHBBCA Joins the Carebox Connect Network

RALEIGH, N.C., January 16, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Carebox, a leading provider of clinical trial matching solutions, and the TOUCH, the Black Breast Cancer Alliance – which drives the collaborative efforts of patients, survivors, advocates, advocacy organizations, health care professionals, researchers and pharmaceutical companies to work collectively, with accountability, towards the common goal of eradicating Black Breast Cancer – today announced the launch of a Carebox Connect experience optimized for breast cancer patients. 

The new web application gives patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals an easy and effective way to search and match to breast cancer clinical trials.  

Carebox Connect can now be accessed from the When We Tri(al) website as an integral part of the movement to increase the participation of Black women in clinical trials. Black women are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. Black women continue to be vastly underrepresented in clinical trials, accounting for only 3% of the clinical trial participants leading to FDA approval of cancer drugs between 2008 and 2018. Because the vast majority of people who participate in clinical trials are white, there simply is not enough research about how breast cancer treatments work for Black women or how they experience breast cancer differently. When We Tri(al) is a call to action of a fierce, resilient community of Black women and has successfully garnered over 15,000 Black women into clinical trial portals in the past year. 

The Carebox Connect trial database is synchronized daily with the ClinicalTrials.gov clinical trial data maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Applying its human-supervised AI, Carebox converts the unstructured text in ClinicalTrials.gov that describes eligibility criteria for enrollment into a searchable index of clinical criteria for matching with patient characteristics. This allows patients and families to complete a questionnaire about their particular diagnosis, treatment history, genetic testing, and other relevant information to then identify potentially relevant clinical trials automatically. 

“When We Tri(al) is about educating Black women about research with words they can spell from voices they can trust … The questionnaire-based trial matching approach of Carebox Connect makes clinical research more accessible to our community.” 

Ricki Fairley, 

CEO and Co-Founder, TOUCH, the Black Breast Cancer Alliance 

As Ricki Fairley, the CEO and Co-Founder of TOUCHBBCA, explains: “We are on a mission to advance the science for Black Breast Cancer. We must get more Black Breasties into clinical trials to get drugs that have been tested on our bodies. When We Tri(al) is about educating Black women about research with words they can spell from voices they can trust. We are ecstatic to partner with Carebox. The questionnaire-based trial matching approach of Carebox Connect makes clinical research more accessible to our community and gives us information to measure our impact."

Caroline Daigle, Carebox VP of Services, adds: “Increasing diversity in clinical trial participants is an FDA mandate and top-of-mind for our pharma company customers that sponsor clinical trials. Objectives for diversity and inclusion can only be achieved when the drug research industry partners with leading communities of patients like the Black Breasties of TOUCHBBCA.” 

“Our digital platform and call center navigators reach tens of thousands of patients every month in every community and segment of the patient populations for all conditions. Every partner we add to the Carebox Connect Network extends that reach and brings the treatment options available only in clinical trials to the broadest audience. We are proud to be able to support the wonderful work of TOUCHBBCA and will continue to expand our network of partners to reach as many patients as possible, especially those that have historically been underserved.” 

About TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance  
Though there are numerous breast cancer advocacy groups and stakeholders, there is a need to bring all patients, survivors, advocates, advocacy organizations, health care professionals, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies together to serve as allies in this army to fight Black Breast Cancer. No one entity can accomplish this alone. Our work requires collaboration, partnership, shared resources, and consistent action, where we can share knowledge and hold each other accountable towards this critical goal. For more information, visit touchbbca.org. 

About When We Tri(al) 
We’re a movement by Black Breasties for Black Breasties. Without our participation in clinical trials, Black women won’t be considered when it comes to life-saving cancer drugs. Together, we can have a voice in research. Together, we can demand better treatments and change the game for Black Breasties, our community, and generations to come. For more information, visit whenwetrial.org. 

About Carebox 
Carebox connects patients and physicians seeking treatment options with clinical trials. For patients and families, access to information about the newest and most advanced treatment options is obscured and frustrating to find. For pharma companies, clinical trial recruitment is the primary bottleneck in the $100B+ drug development market now being reshaped by precision medicine treatment specificity, new trial models, diversity requirements, and digital health consumer expectations. Carebox is at the forefront of addressing these challenges for patients and their families, as well as for the ecosystem of companies involved in sponsoring, running, and recruiting for clinical trials. Learn more about Carebox at careboxhealth.com. 

About Carebox Connect 
The Carebox Connect cloud platform digitizes Carebox’s two decades of experience in navigating over one million patients seeking clinical trial options. It enables trial sponsors of all sizes to educate, engage, navigate, match, qualify, refer, and enroll patients in their clinical trials. Pharma trial sponsors, hospital research centers, and patient advocacy groups use Carebox Connect to present their clinical trial portfolios to the public, optimize trial recruitment, and enhance participant diversity in support of ongoing clinical research. 

About The Carebox Connect Network 
In addition to customer-branded Carebox Connect solutions for trials sponsors and sites, the Carebox Connect Network brings the power of the platform to patients, families, and caregivers via a rapidly growing network of tens of patient advocacy groups and physician associations. Carebox runs co-branded and branded web applications and/or clinical trial navigation services on behalf of its Carebox Connect Network partners.  

Source: Carebox Healthcare Solutions