Science 37 Files IPO Prospectus: Aiming for 7x Revenue Growth in 5 Years with Decentralized Clinical Trial Platform

Clinical trials are an indispensable pathway for drug approval and market launch, and successful drug development hinges on effective clinical trials. Existing clinical trials are typically conducted around geographically dispersed trial centers, requiring patients to regularly visit these sites for assessments or treatments. This model faces challenges such as high costs, difficulties in patient recruitment, and a lack of patient diversity.

Science 37 is a technology company dedicated to developing innovative clinical trial models. Its proprietary operating system and platform enable patients to participate in clinical trials from home. This new model has already achieved success in multiple clinical trials, not only increasing the number and diversity of participants and shortening patient recruitment timelines, but also reducing the time and costs of clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies.

Science 37 was founded in Los Angeles, USA, in 2014. Its co-founders, Noah Craft and Belinda Tan, are an artistically inclined couple who enjoy handmade ceramics and outdoor activities. They frequently venture into nature, discussing their work in mountain cabins and at campsites.

In 2014, Noah Craft and Belinda Tan co-founded Science 37, with Craft serving as Chief Executive Officer and Tan as Chief Medical Officer. They hired engineers, physicians, and clinical research coordinators, and established an office in San Francisco. Craft stated, “We view ourselves as scientists, artists, and explorers. As an explorer, I need a team that trusts me to lead them on journeys into the unknown. My leadership style is to fully unleash people’s self-creativity and spirit of exploration by providing them with tools and guidance, and then allowing them to explore on their own.”

In 2019, Science 37 announced the appointment of David Coman as its Chief Executive Officer. Coman joined Science 37 from ERT, a global data and technology company dedicated to minimizing clinical trial risks, where he served as Chief Strategy Officer and led its data and analytics business. Prior to joining ERT, Coman founded the digital patient business at Quintiles (now IQVIA) while serving as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. Over his 25-year career, Coman has helped pioneer some of the industry’s first decentralized clinical trials, driving growth in enterprise value.

Coman stated that Science 37 is addressing inefficiencies in the field of clinical trials. For over a century, there has been little progress in the methodology and efficiency of clinical trials; pharmaceutical companies continue to establish networks of research hospitals worldwide and dispatch researchers to fly from one location to another to conduct studies and recruit patients.

Due to geographic constraints, clinical trials can only recruit patients from the vicinity of the participating institutions or centers. Consequently, only about 8% of all patients have ever enrolled in clinical trials, leading to delays in 80% of trials, a dropout rate of 20%, and recruitment of merely 14% of patients with limited access to medical care and medications.

“Science 37 aims to democratize clinical research, enabling pharmaceutical companies to access more diverse patient populations, accelerate studies, and bring new drugs to market faster,” said Coman.

Science 37, Inc. has improved the traditional hospital-based clinical trial model by leveraging its proprietary Metasite digital operations technology platform, enabling patients to participate in clinical trials from home.

The company has developed a software application named NORA, which can be installed on patients’ mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. By integrating with telemedicine technologies, NORA assists patients in participating in clinical trials and reporting data. Additionally, patients receive support from virtual clinical trial specialists and mobile nursing services to complete various steps throughout the clinical trial process.

This patient-centric platform provides comprehensive support for clinical trials, ranging from patient recruitment to the completion of remote studies, thereby eliminating geographic barriers. Through its Metasite digital operations model, Science 37 has demonstrated the ability to enhance the efficacy and speed of clinical trials while recruiting a diverse participant pool. Coman stated, “We can provide universal access to any patient or pharmaceutical company, regardless of geographic location. We are able to recruit patients into clinical studies 15 times faster, extend patient retention by 28%, and achieve a threefold increase in participation rates among underserved populations who are often overlooked in traditional research settings.”

Since its inception, the company has collaborated with major pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim, conducting over 95 decentralized clinical trials and enrolling nearly 400,000 patients. Currently, patients can join multiple clinical trials in fields including oncology, dermatology, internal medicine, and neurology through the Science 37 website and NORA.

Furthermore, Science 37 provides enhanced access for patients and physicians, enables more efficient collection of research data from other sites, facilitates the identification of more representative and hard-to-reach patient populations, and mitigates risks arising from unforeseen issues to ensure business continuity.

Leveraging DCT OS, the industry’s first and only decentralized clinical trial operating system, Science 37 enables workflow orchestration, evidence generation, and data harmonization on a unified, seamless platform, integrating with the company’s telehealth researchers, mobile nurses, remote coordinators, patient communities, and connected device network.

Science 37 has also conducted more comprehensive decentralized interventional clinical trials, covering everything from protocol design to database lock, and its telemedicine and home health network can reach virtually anywhere in the world.

Since its inception, Science 37 has raised $147.5 million in venture capital funding. Last August, the company announced the closing of an oversubscribed $40 million financing round. The round was led by existing investors Lux Capital, Redmile Group, and PPD Inc., with participation from existing investors Novartis, Amgen, Sanofi Ventures, GV, and Glynn Capital. New investors included LifeSci Venture Partners and Mubadala.

On May 7, 2021, the company announced its merger with LifeSci Acquisition II Corp. to go public. The combined entity will operate under the name Science 37 and is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SNCE. Following the merger, Science 37 was valued at approximately $1.05 billion and aimed to raise around $250 million to fuel continued growth. Pre-merger shareholders of Science 37 and its employees will hold approximately 77% of the shares in the publicly traded company.

“The clinical research industry is undergoing a major transformation, with traditional methods being replaced by technology-driven innovation,” said David Coman, CEO of Science 37. “Our clinical trial operating system can significantly accelerate enrollment, retain patients at higher rates, and achieve greater enrollment across diverse patient populations. We aim to further expand into adjacent markets, thereby advancing the development of clinical trials and bridging the gap between traditional and decentralized approaches to enable truly agile clinical trials.”

Andrew McDonald, CEO of LifeSci Acquisition II Corp, stated, “Healthcare is increasingly transitioning to virtual and home-based settings, and we believe Science 37 is uniquely positioned in its approach to clinical trials. The rapid growth of Science 37, Inc. demonstrates its ability to leverage technology to transform the way drugs are developed and brought to market.”

The transaction has received unanimous approval from the boards of directors of LifeSci and Science 37. The merger is subject to shareholder approval and other customary conditions, including the effectiveness of the registration statement as declared by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The closing is planned for the third quarter of this year.

In June, contract research organization (CRO) PPD Inc. and Science 37 announced an innovative partnership, under which PPD will fully leverage Science 37’s DCT SaaS technology platform to design, build, test, implement, and execute digital trials. This expanded arrangement is the result of two years of successful collaboration under Science 37’s CRO Certification Program, enabling PPD Digital to utilize Science 37’s configurable, SaaS-based DCT technology platform to design and implement remote eConsent, eCOA, eSource, and fully decentralized trials, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of trial delivery for its clients.

Niklas Morton, Senior Vice President of PPD Digital, stated: “Our successful collaboration with Science 37 has enabled us to effectively implement and integrate its technology platform into our clinical trial service model, providing clients with more options for trial delivery.”

PPD Digital provides flexible trial solutions in decentralized settings to enhance patient access and improve the patient experience, thereby boosting time efficiency and data quality while accelerating drug development timelines. These services significantly reduce patient burden by minimizing site visits, enabling more timely data acquisition, improving quality and consistency, and fostering better patient engagement, thus offering pharmaceutical clients broader geographic coverage.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, clinical trials related to COVID-19 have been conducted in an orderly manner, but the situation for other clinical trials has been less optimistic. In this context, Science 37 has fully leveraged its strengths to facilitate the orderly conduct of clinical trials during the pandemic.

“The outbreak of the pandemic accelerated business growth. Currently, our website is established and operating worldwide. We have assembled an outstanding management team, with bookings, revenue, and profit margins growing each quarter, and Science 37 set new records in the first quarter of 2021,” said Coman.

According to the company’s official website, Science 37 projects that its revenue will grow from $52 million in 2021 to $362 million in 2025.

This also positions the company not only for decentralized clinical trials but also for its future of “agile clinical trials,” in which traditional on-site researchers and telemedicine-enabled researchers coexist, allowing patients to receive treatment either at home, at trial sites, or at nearby facilities.

“To achieve this goal, one must have the capability to collaborate with traditional researchers, remote researchers, mobile nurses, connected devices, and remote coordinators. But most importantly, it is essential to have an operating system that enables flexibility between internal and external environments. I believe only Science 37 can accomplish this,” said Coman.