Amy Del Medico, Vial’s VP of Ophthalmology, discusses her background and what brought her to the Vial team. Amy joined the Vial team in January 2023. To learn more about opportunities at Vial, visit our careers page and follow us on LinkedIn.
Tell us about your background.
I have twenty years of industry experience with Quest Diagnostics, IQVIA, and now Vial, in clinical trial strategy for global biopharma clients. My background includes drug, device, and drug/device combination studies. My six years of experience in ophthalmology covers both anterior segment and retina indications, from single-site phase I studies to multinational phase III programs.
In your past few roles, you’ve seen the challenges of drug development and discovery upfront; where do you see room for technology-enabled infrastructure to support biotechs?
There are endless potential applications of technology that can support biotech companies, but the devil is in the detail. The ability to develop tech at a pace that can speed trial conduct is key, but this must be combined with clinical trial operational experience for it to function better than the norm. Vial combines expertise in both fields with therapeutic area experience to meet our goals of reduced trial burden, improved data quality, and the associated time and cost savings for our clients.
What advice do you have for the founding teams of biotechs that are new to clinical development?
I’d recommend talking to as many different people with as many different backgrounds as possible to understand what is a complex and dynamic industry. Also, it is important to choose your vendors carefully. Your progress will be smoother by working with vendor teams that are experienced, passionate, and will communicate openly with you.
What led you to join Vial?
I love Vial’s vision to transform the conduct of clinical trials through technology-enabled solutions. COVID primed our industry for change, and it is exciting to be part of a company that is leading the way in more efficient trial conduct.
What are you most excited about over the next year at Vial?
I’m really looking forward to developing ophthalmology-specific tech solutions for clinical trials. For example, we already have an eBCVA worksheet which allows for more user-friendly and accurate recording of a patient’s vision. This is so critical in this therapeutic area, where vision is a common, but often poorly protected, endpoint.
