US-based Velocity Clinical Research (Velocity), a fully integrated clinical site organisation, has announced the acquisition of TrierHealth, a digital clinical trials platform whose R&D team operates out of Hyderabad, to develop patient-focussed technology. TrierHealth's founder, Raghu Punnamraju, will become Velocity's Chief Technology Officer.

The investment in Indian clinical technology expertise in Hyderabad comes amid the clinical trials sector's move towards decentralised trials. Velocity Clinical Research operates 30 locations across the US and will expand to other regions this year, adopting a hybrid solution of both brick-and-mortar sites plus technology elements to facilitate greater patient recruitment into clinical research globally, speeding up drug development.

Velocity will embark on an aggressive recruitment drive for clinical technology talent in Hyderabad, critical to the company's growth as a global clinical trials player. Velocity, now with its acquired technical capability, will develop patient-focused tech to increase patient engagement amongst its database of 500,000 patients, increasing the frequency of people taking part in multiple studies.

The acquisition of TrierHealth means Velocity can develop applications that harness the power of AI and data science to improve clinical research. The acquisition comes 18 months after collaborating with TrierHealth to build a patient-focused platform to support decentralised visits. The R&D team, based in Hyderabad, will now expand and focus on patient recruitment and retention applications.