Novartis announces FocalView launch

Novartis has announced the launch of a new ophthalmic research platform app, FocalView, created in conjunction with the Apple ResearchKit platform.

Currently, monitoring and capturing patient disease activity and real-world experiences in ophthalmic clinical trials is difficult, inflexible and infrequent, Novartis said in a press release. FocalView may help reduce barriers to clinical trials because it collects real-time, self-reported data directly from patients.

Patients using FocalView can gain feedback on their visual function and use it as a tool to complete assessments. It allows researchers to track disease progression and may help create future clinical trial designs that are more flexible and accessible, according to the release.

While FocalView is now available from the App Store, consent is required to contribute to research data.

The efficacy and usability of FocalView in assessing visual function will be evaluated in a prospective, noninterventional study. According to the release, visual activity and contrast sensitivity will be measured, and ease of use, level of enrollment and ability to obtain documentation for future clinical trial research will be assessed.

“We believe apps like FocalView, which we've made freely available to the research community on an open-source platform, can help accelerate the development of treatments and bring them to the patients who need them most,” Bertrand Bodson, Novartis chief digital officer, said in the release.