The Story of Datacubed Health: Building the Future of Inclusive Clinical Trials

A recovering lawyer walks into a clinical trial software company. It sounds like the setup to a joke, but it’s actually the beginning of a transformation story that’s reshaping how medical treatments reach the people who need them most.

In a recent Category Visionaries episode, Datacubed Health CEO Brett Kleger shared the company’s journey from academic roots to enterprise solution provider, revealing how a mission to democratize clinical trials is driving their evolution in the healthcare tech space.

From Academic Innovation to Market Reality

Founded in 2016 by renowned neuroeconomist Dr. Paul Glimcher, Datacubed Health began with a radical premise: what if clinical trials could be designed around the patient experience, rather than treating participants as mere data sources?

When Brett joined as CEO in 2020, he discovered something unique: “When I first met Paul and first learned about the solution, what really was key to me and different to me is it was entirely focused on the patient. There’s tech companies out there that had built similar type solutions to just collect data, but they were focused more on the technology itself and not creating a good experience for the patient.”

The company was pre-revenue but had spent years building and testing an incredible product in academic settings. As Brett explains, “They hadn’t really focused as much on the go to market to date. It was more about spending several years to build the product up out to test it on academia, but not necessarily to bring the business case together or the go to market strategies together on how do you make this a much more broad based enterprise solution for the pharmaceutical industry.”

Navigating the Pandemic Pivot

Brett’s timing couldn’t have been more challenging – he joined just as the world shut down due to COVID-19. “I came on board in one of the most interesting times in our lifetime. I joined in early 2020, which, of course, coincided with the beginning of the pandemic,” he recalls.

Rather than letting the crisis derail their mission, the team used it as an opportunity to demonstrate the value of their patient-centric approach. The pandemic highlighted exactly what Datacubed Health had been built to solve: how do you make clinical trials accessible to everyone, regardless of their location or circumstances?

The Mission Behind the Technology

Unlike many healthcare tech companies that lead with technical innovation, Datacubed Health’s story is driven by a deeper mission. As Brett explains, “The primary problem that we solve is allowing people anywhere in the world, in any poverty line, in any type of faith, religion, culture, race ethnicity, to be part of a trial, to get the same type of abilities and access to healthcare that anyone else does.”

This focus on accessibility and inclusion isn’t just about market expansion – it’s about fundamentally changing how medical treatments are developed and tested. Traditional clinical trials often limited participation to those with proximity to research centers and financial means, effectively excluding vast populations from access to breakthrough treatments.

Building for the Future

Looking ahead, Brett’s vision extends beyond just improving clinical trials. “To me, the big picture in three to five years and five to ten years is that clinical trials, and really less than clinical trials, more of access to medicine is available to everyone, no matter where in the world they are.”

This mission resonates on a personal level for Brett: “That’s what I want my kids to look and say they’re proud of me for any part of the process that I could do to improve that.”

The story of Datacubed Health challenges the conventional narrative about healthcare tech innovation. Instead of chasing the next breakthrough technology, they’re focused on solving a fundamental human problem: ensuring that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, has access to potentially life-changing medical treatments.

As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, Datacubed Health’s patient-first approach offers a compelling model for how technology companies can drive meaningful change in regulated markets while building sustainable businesses. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most innovative solution isn’t about creating new technology – it’s about making existing capabilities accessible to everyone who needs them.