SubjectWell Launches Patient Registry of 10k+ Patients for COVID-19 Clinical Trials

What You Should Know: 

– SubjectWell launches a patient registry list of 10,000 individuals in the US interested in participating in COVID-19 clinical trials and research. 

– The new COVID-19 patient registry will accelerate the patient recruitment process for COVID-19 research, giving researchers access to interested individuals who could randomize for various types of trials, whether they are healthy volunteers with no previous exposure to COVID-19, currently sick with the virus, or who have recovered. 

As the pharmaceutical industry mobilizes at unprecedented speed to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, SubjectWell, the world’s largest marketplace for clinical trials, announced today it has developed a growing patient registry of individuals in the US interested in participating in clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine as these trials become more widely available. In just three weeks, 10,000 people from SubjectWell’s expansive patient network have already opted into the list, with approximately 70,000 individuals expected to register by the end of May.

Why It Matters

With SubjectWell’s COVID-19 patient registry, researchers will have access to interested individuals who could randomize for various types of trials, whether they are healthy volunteers with no previous exposure to COVID-19, currently sick with the virus, or who have recovered. Patient data includes general demographic information, existing medical conditions, past virus diagnoses, past exposure to the virus and results of positive antigen tests. By sidestepping the lengthy process of identifying participants for a clinical trial, the list will dramatically accelerate last patient in (LPI), which could ultimately bring a safe, approved vaccine to the general public faster.

Click here for more…..

Syndio raises $7.5M to squash pay gaps; CEO says COVID-19 crisis puts women and minorities at risk

Seattle startup Syndio just raised a $7.5 million investment round to bolster its HR technology that helps companies maintain equal pay and eliminate disparities.

Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio said the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of pay equity because “when survival is priority No. 1, fairness takes a back seat.” She pointed to the impact on the lowest paid workers, as well as women whose “careers and pay are suffering even more” as the primary caretakers at home.

“Many companies are not considering pay equity impacts as they reduce their workforce, nor are they looking at the makeup of those who remain, which means we could widen the gap,” Colacurcio said. “When we emerge, have we set women and minorities back 50 years?”

Click here for more…..

‘Just Beyond’: Disney+ Orders Series Based On BOOM! Studios Comic From Seth Grahame-Smith & 20th TV

Disney+ has given an eight-episode series order to Just Beyond, a horror/comedy anthology from writer Seth Grahame-Smith and 20th Century Fox Television, part of Disney TV Studios. It is based on the bestselling BOOM! Studios graphic novel series from iconic children’s writer R.L. Stine (Goosebumps).

A writers room is being assembled and the series is expected to come to Disney+ in the fall of 2021.

Just Beyond was created by Grahame-Smith, author of the bestselling novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and screenwriter of Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, The Lego Batman Movie and The Saint for director Dexter Fletcher and star Chris Pine.

“I grew up watching Twilight Zone reruns and the original Amazing Stories with my parents,” said Grahame-Smith. “I’ve always wanted to make a genre anthology series that families could enjoy together, and do it in a way that delivered for kids and adults alike. R.L. Stine has been a part of millions of childhoods, and Disney+ has already proven itself as a place that knows how to make high-quality shows for the whole family. I couldn’t be more excited to be working with both of them.”

Click here for more…..

Seattle’s Mystery expands to Austin as ‘Night In’ boxes help startup weather lockdown

Mystery, the startup built around putting together a surprise night on the town for couples — or a surprise Night In during the health crisis — is expanding to Austin, Texas, its first market outside of Seattle.

The company, which launched in February 2019 and has raised $1.3 million, is traditionally focused on getting people out of the house for an activity, dinner, drinks, dessert and transportation. Users set preferences and communicate with Mystery through its app.

COVID-19 changed things up and Mystery pivoted to its Night In boxes in March. A specially curated box is sent to a buyer’s home and comes with dinner for two, an activity and a few other goods from local partners. The aim was to keep the business going and support Mystery’s partners whose businesses had been impacted by social distancing orders.

Mystery’s launch in Austin is kicking off with Night In.

Click here for more…..

One in Eight Supermarket Employees in the U.S. Now Has Access to Their Money as They Earn It

NEW YORK, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DailyPay, the leading provider of the daily pay benefit, joins forces with many of the country's leading supermarkets to support their heroic workers who are on the frontlines of the global health crisis. Now, more than one in eight grocery store workers across the country has this financial control at a time when they need it most. 

In celebration of the frontline supermarket heroes, including Kroger, Parker's Kitchen, Leevers Supermarkets, Dave's Markets and Loop Neighborhood, DailyPay has committed to a number of initiatives to support them during this crisis. These include:

• Powering their DailyPay benefit programs to give employees access to their pay as they earn it, as compared with the traditional two-week pay period. 

• Enabling employees the opportunity to save an average of $1,205 per year in reduced fees from loans, overdraft and late fees*.

• Introducing a $0 next-day transfer fee for all employees to remove barriers to earned income access during this critical time. 

• Creating a series of free online financial literacy webinars to answer questions about managing through the COVID-19 crisis, including navigating the stimulus package. 

• Educating employers about changes and trends happening in the supermarket industry through the DailyPay Workforce Index to raise awareness about additional financial needs for employees, including adding/offering bonuses and/or shift differentials. 

"We are proud of our amazing staff who has been working hard to keep our neighborhoods fed," said Taylor Leevers, Special Projects Manager, Leevers Supermarkets. "In addition to hiring dedicated cleaning staff, installing sneeze guards at registers and providing appreciation bonuses, we are also proud to offer DailyPay to employees who want access to their pay on a daily basis."

Click here for more…..