Clinical trial platform provider encapsia welcomes new COO

Clinical trial management solutions provider, encapsia, has announced the appointment of Francis Destin as its new Chief Operating Officer. Francis brings more than 20 years of expertise to the role, specializing in the management of data-related projects in clinical trials and statistical analysis software. His adoption of a future-facing approach to clinical research supports encapsia’s vision of transforming clinical trials for the benefit of the biotech, pharma and biopharma industries. 

This approach aligns with encapsia’s goal of developing user-friendly, adaptable solutions that have a long-term impact on decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) and data analysis. In turn, life science companies will benefit from the enhanced speed to market and cost savings. Prioritizing data insights to evaluate and select the best-performing techniques mirrors encapsia’s commitment to open access integration with expert systems such as randomization and trial supply management systems (RTMS). Francis defines data as equalling shared knowledge and information, linking the company commitment to producing real-time data surfaced through user-friendly visualizations.

Francis Destin

Commenting on the move, Francis said: “My journey with encapsia begins at a time of technological change, and I am looking forward to building on its many strengths in clinical data optimization. The customer-centric ethos fortifies my own approach, which is to create a holistic data management platform with user needs at the core. It’s all about looking to the future to see how we can improve our business mindset for the benefits of our customers and the wider industry.”

He continues: “There are a lot of companies competing within the technology landscape, and encapsia is uniquely positioned to drive the development of a more accessible, user-experience-focused system. Whether the study is decentralized or not, EDC or eSource remains the central technology asset for data entry in a clinical trial. We’ve completely integrated this into our encapsia platform: a cloud application specifically designed for clinical studies that adapts to the needs of today, and ready for tomorrow. Real-world data (RWD) collection is at the heart of what encapsia does, and I look forward to driving our rapid growth.” 

Encapsia’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Timothy Corbett-Clark, welcomes the move: “Encapsia is excited to have Francis on board and we are looking forward to drawing on his wealth of knowledge within the life science industry. We are eager to see what the future holds for the company and the leading figures driving it.”

Francis is spearheading the 5-year roadmap for encapsia, shifting the focus from solely electronic data capture (EDC) towards wearables and medical devices, and building on its partnerships with providers of transformative technologies. Encapsia will drive innovation in response to customer needs with the ultimate aim of creating a new platform that supports decentralized, hybrid and traditional clinical trials and encompasses feedback from sponsors and investigators. Its long-term strategic focus is to build an open access, customer centric solution that is dedicated to end users, keeps up with the pace of change in IoT devices and supports new demands as they arise. The open platform will not just be for developers but for everyone involved in the clinical trial process without requiring programming knowledge. This will formulate the new clinical trial design and ensure that encapsia and its customers are ready for the future.

Encapsia works to offer services and information to patients, but also technical support to investigators. For the patient, its technological roadmap considers better management and a thorough follow-up by analysing how they assess their health status and their trial experience. This enables the investigator to follow patients’ data allowing for more informed treatment decision-making. And for the promoter, improving adherence to treatments for a better understanding of patients’ experience through the production and analysis of real-life data. This technological maturity will be accompanied by the delivery of specific support services around technical skills (software development, AI, cloud computing, etc.) and consider the different economic contexts.

Prior to joining encapsia, Francis worked as a Business and Innovation Director at Efor-CVO-Soladis, acquiring pertinent experience in project management and overseeing company strategy, to accelerate the development of Efor-CVO-Soladis’ cutting-edge technology. Its application in his new role at encapsia will create new business impact.