BOSTON and DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parexel, a leading provider of solutions to accelerate the development and delivery of innovative therapies to improve world health, from clinical through commercialization, today announced a strategic collaboration with Synexa Life Sciences, a world-leading expert in biomarker and bioanalytical science, and Drawbridge Health, a healthcare technology company reinventing the blood draw experience, focused on delivering comprehensive solutions for COVID-19 clinical serology testing. The tripartite collaboration will provide a more streamlined solution for blood sample collection and serology testing for accurate clinical decision-making and improved patient outcomes.
Synexa, which has developed a suite of high-performance clinical assays assessing antibodies indicating prior infection or conferring immunity to COVID-19 infection, has identified the OneDraw™ Blood Collection Device by Drawbridge Health as a leading patient-centric, remote sample collection approach for obtaining high-quality blood samples that are stabilized and can be easily shipped for assay analysis. Parexel will offer Synexa Life Sciences’ serology test and Drawbridge Health’s OneDraw™ Blood Collection Device to customers as part of the company’s more than 125 ongoing COVID-19-related clinical trials and projects.
“Our strategic collaboration with Synexa and Drawbridge Health will enable Parexel to significantly improve the clinical trial experience for our patients participating in pivotal COVID-19 clinical trials,” said Sy Pretorius, MD, Parexel Executive Vice President and Chief Medical & Scientific Officer. “Remote sample collection for serology testing removes the various obstacles of in-person collection and improves accessibility for patients in need.”
The strategic collaboration comes at a time when data-driven clinical research and accurate population health information are imperative in the management of COVID-19 and in the event of future pandemics. There is an urgent need for accurate serology testing enabled by improved methods of blood collection that minimize exposure to COVID-19. Parexel, Synexa and Drawbridge Health will provide the necessary tools for drug developers, clinicians and health experts to assess and quantify population exposure, immunity and COVID-19 reinfection risk.
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Parexel and further utilize the company’s platform and services to scale our serology testing,” said Paul O’Riordan, CEO of Synexa Life Sciences. “The OneDraw Blood Collection Device has worked very well with our panel of COVID-19 antibody assays, opening up the opportunity for large-scale distributed sampling in clinical trial or sero-prevalence studies.”
“Providing solutions for antibody testing in support of clinical trials and ongoing sero-surveillance studies for COVID-19 is a timely and important step for Drawbridge,” said Lee McCracken, CEO of Drawbridge Health. “We value Parexel’s global reputation in the CRO community and the deep biomarker expertise that Synexa has in the fields of Infectious Disease and Immunology. We look forward to additional opportunities for collaboration with Parexel and Synexa in the future.”
About Parexel
Parexel is focused on supporting the development of innovative therapies to improve patient health. During the COVID-19 crisis, we continue to be committed to our customers’ business while putting the safety of patients, client partners and our employees at the heart of everything we do. To learn more about our efforts related to COVID-19, as well as the experts, innovations and processes we have in place to navigate the rapidly changing landscape, visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
About Drawbridge Health
Founded in 2015 by GE Ventures and GE Healthcare, Drawbridge Health is a healthcare technology company focused on reinventing the blood draw experience, enabling comfortable convenient blood sample collection anytime and anywhere. By integrating engineering, chemistries and modular design, Drawbridge Health has developed a people-friendly system for collecting and stabilizing blood samples, opening new doors to enable access to important health information. For more information, please visit www.drawbridgehealth.com.
About Synexa Life Sciences
For nearly 20 years Synexa Life Sciences has supported their Biopharma partners across the globe to achieve their clinical milestones. Founded in 2003 as an early pioneer in the biomarker field, Synexa specializes in the development, validation and delivery of a wide range of complex and custom-designed assays, founded on deep expertise in immunology and the impact of the immune system on human health and candidate drug performance. For more information, please visit www.synexagroup.com and follow them on LinkedIn.
Synexa is a privately-held company, backed by Gilde Healthcare, a specialized European healthcare investor, and operates from three laboratory locations (London, Berlin and Cape Town).
CONTACT:
Parexel
Lori Dorer
+1 978 495 4135
lori.dorer@parexel.com
W2O
Lindsay LeCain
+1 508 259 9521
parexelpr@w2ogroup.com