A SPOTLIGHT ON TRIALS IN SINGAPORE

The clinical trials department was established in early 2021 and has experienced significant growth in the last 12 months. The team is led by Director of Clinical Trials (ASEAN and Hong Kong), Joanne Chio and Singapore Research Lead and Committee Chair, Dr Hsieh Wen-Son.

In its first full calendar year of delivering a dedicated clinical trials program, the Singapore team signed a number of industry partnerships to attract a broad range of clinical trials and activated several new trials including Icon Group’s first involvement in a paediatric oncology trial.

The opening of the new integrated Icon Cancer Centre in Mount Alvernia will allow for continued growth of clinical trials. This centre will be the second headquarters for Icon Singapore’s clinical trials (First headquarters at Icon Cancer Centre Farrer Park) with the cutting-edge facilities able to attract milestone trials, including nuclear medicine/theranostics.

Icon Cancer Centre at Mount Alvernia has achieved regulatory approval from the National Environment Agency and Ministry of Health and the centre was officially launched on 11 January 2023. The centre will provide theranostics services in 2023 including clinical trials.

Oncoshot and Roche MOU

In October 2022, Icon Cancer Centre Singapore inked a partnership with Oncoshot, a collaborative platform for cancer patients and oncologists, and Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche. This collaboration is the first in Southeast Asia to digitise the genomic data of cancer patients to better identify and match patients to suitable ongoing trials.

Healthcare professionals can make more informed decisions for their patients regarding potential treatment options and help accelerate the process of matching patients to the most suitable clinical trial. So far 250 patient databases have been digitised with ongoing work in 2023 and beyond.

Training

As the number of clinical trials in Singapore and the focus on patient recruitment increases, there is a need to upskill and equip teams with resources and quality training to deliver high-quality care. In 2023 Icon will aim to start a research exchange program which will allow Singapore research teams to be trained within Icon sites across Queensland and New South Wales. This will include exposure to Phase I trials and extensive hands-on clinical trial training.

Clinical Trials WebApp Launch

In 2022 the team launched an Icon Clinical Trials WebApp for Principal Investigators and Co-investigators in Icon to provide greater collaboration and easy access to current clinical trial information, including protocols, informed consent, eligibility criteria, and study schema. This app allows doctors to access relevant information with ease and help improve patient recruitment.

Established a second clinical trials headquarters

Signed a milestone MOU with Oncoshot and Roche

Launched a clinical trials WebApp