Predictive Health Intelligence (PHI) and Sano Genetics have announced the completion of recruitment into the LiveWell study, with 996 participants enrolled from a single NHS site in less than a year.
Delivered in partnership with Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which supported clinical oversight and research delivery, and Tawazun Health, and supported by Innovate UK, the milestone demonstrates how a data-led, participant-centred approach can dramatically improve recruitment speed and engagement in clinical research.
“This study demonstrates how the rich longitudinal healthcare datasets can be translated into precision case finding for genetic medicine trials,” said Patrick Short, PhD, CEO and co-founder, Sano Genetics.
“By combining secure data access with a compliant recontact, consent, and remote-testing framework, we enable systematic identification and engagement of eligible patients.
“This is an exciting demonstration of a scalable model for accelerating access to innovative therapies and trials.”
LiveWell uses hepatoSIGHT, PHI’s case-finding software, to identify and stratify individuals at higher risk of metabolic liver disease using historic blood test data already held in NHS systems.
Potentially eligible participants were invited through targeted mailings, then further screened and enrolled via the Sano Genetics platform.
The platform enabled e-consent, at-home genetic testing, FibroScan appointment booking, and integrated data capture within a unified digital workflow.
Recruitment and engagement performance highlights included:#
- 1,300 unique visitors to the study landing page
- a 95 per cent engagement rate
- a 76 per cent rate of conversion to sign-up
- 996 participants enrolled into the study with more than 99 per cent going on to order a genetic test.
This milestone is significant for clinical research sponsors and CROs, where recruitment remains one of the most common causes of trial delay and failure.
Approximately 80 per cent of clinical trials fail to reach their initial recruitment targets within the specified timelines, creating significant downstream costs for sponsors, delaying regulatory milestones, eroding portfolio value, and slowing the delivery of new diagnostics and therapies.
This new approach demonstrates that enrolling a large number of participants in a timely manner is possible with the right data, risk analysis, and partnerships.
It also matters for patients.
Faster, more targeted recruitment enables research to progress at pace, accelerating innovation and improving the likelihood that new approaches reach clinical practice sooner.
Participation in research is also associated with better outcomes, reflecting the benefits of structured follow-up, consistent engagement, and earlier identification of risk.
Louise Campbell is patient advocate, founder and clinical director, Tawazun Health.
She said: “This has been more than a study; it has been life changing for many of the participants involved, with the identification of liver and metabolic risks at a stage where intervention is achievable, and outcomes can genuinely be changed.”
For the NHS, the results provide a practical example of how research can be delivered at scale without adding burden to already stretched clinical teams.
The UK has an ambition to increase the volume and pace of research across the health service, with the potential to attract significant inward investment if the NHS becomes a global centre of research excellence.
LiveWell offers a replicable model for how high-performance recruitment can be achieved through better use of data and digital infrastructure.
Dr Tim Jobson is medical director, Predictive Health Intelligence and consultant gastroenterologist at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
He said: “One of the central challenges in liver disease is identifying the right patients early enough to intervene meaningfully.
“Many people have minor abnormalities in their blood tests, but determining who is genuinely at risk, before it is too late, has traditionally been difficult.
“By combining longitudinal laboratory data with genetic risk, we can stratify patients far more intelligently.
“What LiveWell demonstrates is that this approach not only has clinical value, but also creates a scalable way to identify and recruit the right participants for research.”
