The American College of Cardiology has established the PINNACLE Registry Research Alliance to connect cardiovascular care teams with information about clinical trials and accelerate the systematic access of patients to potentially groundbreaking therapies.
Clinical trials are the gold standard for studying the effectiveness of new treatments, but difficulty in identifying eligible patients often limits the ability of researchers to conduct research studies worldwide.
The Research Alliance, which is open to nearly 2,500 cardiovascular professionals who are part of the outpatient PINNACLE Registry, will offer access to information about a range of research opportunities, expedite the identification of patients with the potential to benefit from participation in clinical trials and observational studies, and support the advancement of up-and-coming researchers through investigator development programs.
Through the Research Alliance, information about clinical trials and potentially eligible patients identified through PINNACLE will be shared with their respective physicians. If physicians and their patients decide to partake in a research opportunity, the Alliance serves to reduce the participation burden for both practices and patients, and potentially drive down costs associated with trial recruitment.
One of the first research studies in line to access the Alliance network is a clinical trial for a potentially groundbreaking investigational drug in a new class of LDL-cholesterol modifying therapies, known as PCSK9 inhibitors. Recruitment for the phase 3 PCSK9 clinical trial program, ODYSSEY Outcomes, is underway and aims to include over 18,000 patients at 750 study locations worldwide.
The NCDR is the preeminent cardiovascular data repository in the United States. Through the analysis and benchmarking of patient risk factors, procedures, devices and clinical outcomes, the NCDR's growing suite of registries provides evidence-based quality improvement solutions for cardiologists and other medical professionals who are committed to measurement, improvement and excellence in cardiovascular care.
