Eli Lilly has discovered a new use for mobile apps--informing doctors about
clinical trials for cancer drugs. With the Lilly Oncology app, the Indianapolis
drug giant provides a free gateway to all oncology trials around the world on
Apple's iPad and iPhone, Google's
Android-enabled devices and even RIM's Blackberry.
Lilly emphasizes that its app isn't limited to the company's own trials,
and users can find information on open studies for specific cancers, compounds,
phase of trial and geographical location. However, just below the top tab of
the app (which I downloaded to my Droid this morning) that says "Search
All Trials," is a menu item that says "Search Lilly Oncology
Trials." The company also created a website called
LillyOncologyPipeline.com, which provides greater depth of information about
Lilly's cancer drug candidates such as videos that show a drug's mechanism of
action.
Make no mistake, Lilly faces the same challenges as other operators of cancer
drug trials, which are notoriously slow to enroll patients and hardly ever get
completed on time. Delays are costly for cancer drug developers, easily running
up to the millions of dollars. So it makes a lot of sense for Lilly, and
GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) before it, to offer free mobile apps that inform doctors about available
clinical trials.