ACT Brief: Tech-Driven Data Strategies and Long-Term Vaccine Success

This is the Applied Clinical Trials Brief—your fast track to the latest insights in clinical research operations. In under three minutes, we’ll recap top stories, highlight expert perspectives, and keep you current on what’s moving the industry.

• Our first story spotlights a new episode of the ACT Podcast, featuring Jeneen Donadeo, executive director of portfolio management at TransCelerate, and Laura Galuchie, senior director and TransCelerate program lead at Merck. The conversation explores findings from a recent TransCelerate and Tufts CSDD study showing that nearly one-third of data collected in Phase III trials is non-essential. Donadeo and Galuchie discuss why protocol complexity continues to rise despite efficiency efforts, and share actionable steps to simplify data collection, improve collaboration across stakeholders, and maintain compliance without compromising quality.
• Next, a feature article from Phastar’s Christian Schmidt explores how sponsors are using digital tools and AI-driven analytics to transform data management. Schmidt outlines how real-time data access, API integrations, and machine learning models are replacing manual methods to unify data from multiple studies and improve operational visibility. By integrating customizable dashboards and predictive modeling, these tools allow sponsors to identify risks earlier, strengthen recruitment forecasting, and make faster, more confident decisions—ultimately helping bring therapies to patients sooner.
• Finally, Takeda has announced new long-term data from its Phase III TIDES trial confirming the sustained efficacy and safety of the company’s dengue vaccine, Qdenga. After four and a half years, two doses of Qdenga showed 61% efficacy in preventing confirmed dengue cases, while a booster increased protection to 74%. The vaccine also demonstrated more than 90% efficacy against dengue-related hospitalizations, with durable protection across all four serotypes and no new safety signals. With more than 18 million doses administered globally, Takeda’s data further reinforce Qdenga’s role in preventing severe disease amid rising global infection rates.

Join us tomorrow for more insights shaping the future of clinical operations and drug development. Thanks for listening.