Grove reduces clinical trial registration time with AI

Tran Le was an engineering student at Stanford University when he was trying to enroll in a clinical trial for his chronic illness. Although they identified several reliable tests, they found that registration was difficult – they had to send many emails to the medical center and 20 pages of long forms.

All of the documents were so difficult, Le saw an opportunity to use generative AI to reduce the registration time of the exam from weeks to minutes. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Sohit Gatiganti, an engineering fellow at Stanford Medicine, to get involved. Grove AI.

Although most patients are referred for medical tests by their doctors, some people look for appropriate tests on their own by searching on websites such as clinicaltrials.gov. These registries can help patients find relevant clinical trials, but contacting trial administrators can be difficult and time-consuming. As with many things in healthcare, staff shortages, bureaucracy and outdated practices get in the way.

Le and Gatiganti (pictured above) say Groves’ AI assistant, Grace, can solve the registration problem by calling patients as soon as they show interest in a case.

Grace uses a voice-activated AI assistant to ask screening questions to determine whether a patient is eligible for testing. If they do, it can arrange the first visit to the medical center, where the examiners can make the final confirmation.

Since its launch eight months ago, Grove AI says it has connected with 250,000 patients, arranged 7,000 appointments and landed two clients with multi-year contracts.

Grove AI may be solving a targeting problem, but according to Le and Gatiganti, no other company is using generative AI to help speed patient enrollment in trials. “Many players in the community are reaching out to us, and they are interested in joining us,” Le said.

Investors also think there could be value in reducing the barriers associated with enrolling in clinical trials.

On Wednesday, Grove AI said it raised $5.2 million in seed funding led by a venture capital firm. A*backed by Afore Capital, LifeX Ventures and Pear VC.

“The market they are targeting is not the biggest market today, but I think there is room for growth,” said Gautam Gupta, co-founder and general partner at A*. He added that his company believes that advances in AI and computational biology will lead to an explosion in drug research and clinical trials. “The Grove will be the biggest beneficiary,” he said.

Gupta admitted that Grove AI’s technology isn’t too complicated, but the demand from many organizations, many of which have previously been slow to adopt new technologies, made him excited about the company.

In addition to finding the Grove AI voice assistant compelling, Gupta sees great potential in the startup’s efforts to gather and process patient data into a relationship management tool.

Most healthcare facilities currently track patient behavior in spreadsheets, but Grove is using its AI to create a product that can be used to manage patient records.

“I don’t know how to calculate this opportunity now, but I know that it creates a very important channel, and in the long run, it will lead to an opportunity to earn money,” he said.