21 May 2020 - - Australian biomedical research organisation the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research has selected US-based IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) to manage COVID SHIELD, a Phase II/III randomized, double-blinded clinical study of preventive care for frontline healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.

The COVID SHIELD clinical study will test an expanded indication for generic Hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic treatment to prevent high-risk healthcare workers from contracting COVID-19.

Local hospitals across Australia will administer HCQ or a placebo to approximately 2,250 healthcare professionals who are currently looking after COVID-19 patients.

To streamline this trial without placing undue risks and burden on the frontline healthcare workers or clinical teams, IQVIA will use virtual clinical tools and technologies.

These virtual technologies include remote monitoring, eConsent, eTMF, and e-source.

Participating healthcare workers for this study will be located across several Australian states, including Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, as well as the Australian Capital Territory.

IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) is a leading global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and contract research services to the life sciences industry.

Formed through the merger of IMS Health and Quintiles, IQVIA applies Human Data Science, leveraging the analytic rigor and clarity of data science to the ever-expanding scope of human science, to enable companies to reimagine and develop new approaches to clinical development and commercialisation, speed innovation and accelerate improvements in healthcare outcomes.

Powered by the IQVIA CORE, IQVIA delivers unique and actionable insights at the intersection of large-scale analytics, transformative technology and extensive domain expertise, as well as execution capabilities.

With approximately 67,000 employees, IQVIA conducts operations in more than 100 countries.

IQVIA is in protecting individual patient privacy.

The company uses a wide variety of privacy-enhancing technologies and safeguards to protect individual privacy while generating and analyzing information on a scale that helps healthcare stakeholders identify disease patterns and correlate with the precise treatment path and therapy needed for better outcomes.

IQVIA's insights and execution capabilities help biotech, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, medical researchers, government agencies, payers and other healthcare stakeholders tap into a deeper understanding of diseases, human behaviors and scientific advances, in an effort to advance their path toward cures.