ACT Brief: Capturing Trial Friction, AI Matching Model Comparisons, and Boehringer’s Oncology Deal

This is the Applied Clinical Trials Brief—your fast track to the latest insights shaping clinical operations and drug development.

• In Episode 4 of The Human Side of Clinical Trials, Brian S. McGowan, PhD, FACEHP, of ArcheMedX, speaks with Jason Riis, PhD, CEO of Behavioralize, about capturing friction closer to the moment it happens. They argue that brief, timely questions can reveal unclear instructions, technology friction, and workarounds that retrospective surveys and debriefs tend to miss. The conversation also stresses keeping that tracking as light as possible, since collecting information can change behavior.
• A new contributed article from Monsana compared OpenAI and Mistral within the company’s clinical trial screening workflow, using two trials and 100 synthetic cardiology patient profiles. Both model suites produced identical overall eligibility labels across 200 patient-study assessments. The disagreements that did appear clustered in inclusion criteria, where models switched between “Uncertain” and “Not included” when records lacked sufficient evidence.
• Boehringer Ingelheim has signed an option and license agreement with SBP Group covering six preclinical oncology programs built on antibody-drug conjugate and T-cell engager technologies. SBP Group will handle early development, which runs through global Phase I trials, before Boehringer Ingelheim decides whether to exercise its options after agreed clinical milestones. The companies did not disclose the targets, formats, or indications for the six programs.

That’s all for today’s ACT Brief. Join us next week for more updates shaping clinical operations and drug development. Thanks for listening.