DrFC

Clinical development · Responsible AI

Find the gaps before they become amendments.

A methodological second opinion on your trial protocol. Every finding comes with the protocol passage, the page and the standard it is measured against.

Example findingIllustrative
Estimand: intercurrent eventsMajor
Protocol“Patients who discontinue study treatment will be excluded from the primary analysis.” Section 9.4 · page 61
Measured againstICH E9(R1): the handling strategy for each intercurrent event is specified per estimand. Exclusion is not one of the strategies, so the treatment effect being estimated stays undefined.
Confirmed by the biostatistics reviewer
The situation

Many hands write a protocol, and it is finalised under time pressure.

The risk

Vague estimands, open intercurrent events or optimistic recruitment assumptions often surface only at the site or with the regulator.

Our answer

A structured review against indication-specific standards, at the depth your decision needs.

Protocol review

Why teams use our protocol review

Our Protocol Review Assistant (PRA) finds the issues. In the expert packages, experts in biostatistics and medicine decide which ones stand.

Every finding with evidence

Verbatim protocol passage, page and the standard it is measured against. Where a page cannot be verified, the finding says so.

Graded by practical effect

Critical, major or minor by the effect on safety, endpoints, conduct and acceptability. Editorial points stay information.

Machine plus expert

In the expert packages, named experts turn each PRA hypothesis into a confirmed verdict or withdraw it with a reason.

Registry benchmarks

Eligibility, drop-out and recruitment against comparable trials on ClinicalTrials.gov, counted the same way, with the method disclosed.

Auditable

The reviewed file is identified by its SHA-256 checksum, result records are locked after each run, and checklists change only through a documented review and sign-off.

Indication- and phase-aware

Dedicated check packs per indication, and every protocol is measured against phase-appropriate standards.

What we review

Three axes, applied to the whole protocol.

Document quality

  • Synopsis and background
  • Objectives, endpoints and estimands (ICH E9(R1))
  • Statistical considerations
  • Study design

Practical feasibility

  • Population and eligibility
  • Schedule of activities and patient burden
  • Feasibility and recruitment (provisional)

Regulatory and guidelines

  • Ethics, safety and governance
  • Currency of the guidelines the protocol cites

Available: gastroenterology (ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease); allergy and immunotherapy (respiratory, food and venom allergy).

In preparation: oncology.

Other indications: core review plus indication-specific guidelines by agreement.

Packages

Choose the depth of review

Every package runs the PRA on your full protocol; you choose the expert review on top. One fixed price per protocol and a fixed scope. Prices and delivery times on request.

PRA · 1 run

PRA Core

A fast, evidenced overview of where your protocol is methodologically exposed. Hypotheses for your team, not yet confirmed verdicts.

  • One PRA run across the full protocol
  • Protocol quote and standard for every point
  • Plausibility release by DrFC
  • No expert review; every finding is labelled as not confirmed
PRA · 2 runs · our standard

PRA + Experts

Allergy and immunotherapy

Verdicts instead of hypotheses: an expert-reviewed findings set you can base decisions on and share onwards.

  • Biostatistics and medical reviewer, the medical reviewer matched to the indication
  • Every finding confirmed or withdrawn with a reason
  • Second run on your revision, with a delta report
PRA · 4 runs

PRA + Adjudication

Allergy and immunotherapy

For protocols where an independent expert judgement makes the difference.

  • Adjudication by a recognised expert, named with their consent
  • Documented agreement and dissent
  • Written recommendation and a workshop with your team

The two expert packages are currently offered for allergy and immunotherapy protocols. For other indications: PRA Core, or talk to us about the reviewer match.

How it works

From protocol to findings in four steps

  1. You send the protocol

    Under a confidentiality agreement, with the documents the review needs. We confirm scope and start date.

  2. The PRA reviews it

    Against the check pack for your indication and phase, section by section.

  3. Experts decide

    In the expert packages, reviewers confirm or withdraw each finding.

  4. You receive the findings

    Report and Excel workbook with a column for your answers. On your revision, a delta report.

Responsible AI

What it means for us, in practice

People decide

The AI proposes. In the expert packages, named experts confirm each finding or withdraw it with a reason. In PRA Core, findings stay labelled as unconfirmed.

Evidence, not assertion

No finding without the protocol passage and the standard behind it. What could not be verified is marked as such.

Traceable

Versioned checklists, a checksum for the reviewed file, results locked after each run.

Honest about limits

Unconfirmed findings are labelled as such, and we say plainly what the review is not.

What the review is not

  • Not a validated GxP system in your environment: a service with a documented method. In the expert packages, every finding is reviewed by named experts.
  • Not protocol writing: text and decisions stay with the sponsor.
  • Not a prediction of recruitment or trial success.

About

Dr. Christoph Franz, MBA

Founder & Managing Director

I founded DrFC to give sponsors a second methodological opinion before a protocol goes out, not after the first amendment.

I am an auditory neuroscientist by training, with a PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Biology and an MBA, and have worked in clinical research since 2013: first as In-House CRA (Project Management Associate) on a Phase III trial, then in business development for international CROs.

DrFC combines that experience with a review assistant built for traceability: every finding evidenced, and in the expert packages every verdict made by a person.

Have a protocol heading for submission or an amendment?

Tell us the indication, phase and timeline. We reply with scope and a start date.

Heddesheim, Germany