Clinical trials platform, Ascension-Q, has landed £250,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Jenson Funding Partners, to help support more clinical trials.
The start-up launched in 2020 with the aim of helping researchers and operational staff carry out their work more efficiently. With this funding it will continue its mission of enabling hospitals and clinics to conduct clinical trials, helping to drive drug development and improve patient experience.
The cloud-based platform provides real-time metrics on study participants and allows for the design and management of studies with multiple cohorts and across multiple sites.
Sarah Barber, CEO at Jenson Funding Partners, said: “The drug development industry is so critical to the health of the global population. Ascension-Q is changing the game for clinical trials by really focusing on the staff and researchers who are working on making life-changing discoveries of new drugs and treatments.
“It is inspiring to see a difficult clinical trial process become far more seamless from start to finish with a complete overview throughout.”
Ascension-Q is already being used in 16 hospitals and has so far made a difference in 70 clinical trials. The company is aiming to triple the number of hospitals using the platform over the course of the coming year. It also has its sights set on the European market this year and the US by 2024.
Dr Amitava Ganguli, founder and CEO of Ascension-Q, said: “Ascension-Q was created to tackle the everyday challenges researchers face through automation in one platform, connecting people and not just processes.”
He continued: “From well-established research institutions through to newer organisations, the AQ platform has shown to increase clinical trial capacity for hospitals, improve patient recruitment and retention and support the business opportunity that research presents for NHS trusts.
“Our ‘buy-once, use many’ philosophy has enabled our customers to do more with less. 2022 was great validation of our system and for 2023 we are excited to push on and help the thousands of research clinics in the UK and beyond.”
Early last year, NHS Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucester (SWAG) Cancer Alliance teamed up with Inspirata, to use AI technology to match patients with relevant clinical trials.