We rescued a stalled Phase III CKD trial in five months, reaching 3,250 patients through trusted kidney-community partnerships, effective digital strategies, and cutting cost per enrolled patient 96% below the industry average.

Chronic kidney disease recruitment built on advocacy. We deliver enrollment-ready patients to your sites, not referrals that create coordinator work.

Talk to our CKD teamSee how it works →
302
Patient referrals delivered to sites
$600K
Sponsor savings on the rescue
30+
Kidney advocacy partnerships
16:1
Referred-to-randomized ratio

Understanding Chronic Kidney Disease as a Clinical Trial Indication

Chronic kidney disease affects more than 1 in 7 US adults, roughly 35.5 million people, and as many as 9 in 10 do not know they have it (CDC, Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States, 2023). Diabetes and high blood pressure drive most cases. The result is a large but largely undiagnosed and dispersed patient population, which makes CKD and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) trials structurally hard to enroll.

The burden is not evenly distributed. Black Americans are more than four times as likely to develop kidney failure, and Hispanic and Native American people more than twice as likely (NIDDK, drawing on the USRDS Annual Data Report). The communities CKD affects most have historically been under-represented in kidney research, which can narrow how broadly approved kidney therapies are labeled and trusted.

Generic third-party recruitment does not solve this. Patients reach kidney trials through the dialysis centers, advocacy organizations, and online communities they already trust, or they do not arrive at all. Leapcure recruits CKD patients through those communities. In a completed Phase III CKD rescue, that advocacy-led approach, paired with precision digital, reached 3,250 patients and delivered 302 referrals while bringing cost per enrolled patient to 96% below the industry average.

The Challenge

CKD trial recruitment demands more than reach. It demands the right relationships and real efficiency.

Hard-to-reach, undiagnosed, and diverse populations need trusted messengers, not more ads

CKD affects more than 35 million US adults, but most are undiagnosed, and the patients trials need most, those from Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities, are the hardest to reach through broad campaigns. These are the same populations historically under-represented in kidney research. Generic digital and list-purchase outreach do not close that gap. Advocacy partnerships embedded in the kidney communities patients trust do.

In a completed Phase III CKD rescue, Leapcure reached 3,250 patients and delivered 302 referrals through advocacy-led and precision-digital outreach.

Complex eligibility creates screen failure before enrollment begins

CKD and DKD eligibility turns on kidney function thresholds (eGFR), albuminuria (UACR), diabetes and hypertension status, treatment history, and current medications. These criteria are specific enough that most patients who express interest will fail screening, unless recruitment surfaces candidates matched to the protocol before site referral. Passing unqualified patients to sites wastes coordinator time and inflates screen-fail rates.

Leapcure assesses protocol eligibility, including eGFR and UACR criteria where applicable, before any patient is referred to a site.

Stalled or behind-schedule kidney trials need a rescue partner, not a slow ramp

CKD and DKD trials frequently fall behind. When timelines slip, every additional month of recruitment adds cost and risk. Most vendors need a long ramp to mobilize. A rescue partner has to activate trusted channels immediately and convert spend into enrollments fast.

Leapcure entered a Phase III CKD program as a rescue and brought cost per enrolled patient to 96% below the industry average, saving the sponsor 600,000 dollars in five months.

Advocacy is the right strategy for CKD, but execution requires real relationships

Sponsors running kidney studies already know advocacy-led outreach outperforms generic digital. The challenge is finding a partner with established, trusted relationships across the kidney community, not vendors who buy list access or run one-off email blasts. Dialysis centers, kidney foundations, and patient platforms are where CKD patients actually are.

Leapcure's CKD advocacy network spans 30+ partnerships, including the National Kidney Foundation, AAKP, Dialysis Patient Citizens, KidneyBuzz, KidneyWorks, and LIFE with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Three Channels. One Advocacy-Led Strategy for Your CKD Trial.

Every CKD study is different. Leapcure deploys the right mix of advocacy, precision digital, and patient support, mapped to your protocol, your sites, your geographies, and your timeline.

1

Activate the right advocacy and digital channels for your CKD protocol

Leapcure activates three recruitment channels: kidney advocacy community outreach (30+ partnerships across national kidney foundations, dialysis-patient organizations, and online communities), precision digital campaigns (search, Facebook and Instagram, and kidney-community platforms, mapped to geography and site proximity), and a patient support model that keeps referred patients engaged through enrollment. Channel mix is adapted to the protocol, site locations, and eligibility criteria of each program.

2

Pre-screen and educate patients before site referral

Every patient is engaged by Leapcure's team before being assigned to a site. We assess protocol eligibility, account for complex CKD and DKD criteria (including eGFR and UACR thresholds where applicable), and confirm patients understand what participation involves. Caregivers and family members are included where relevant. Sites conduct official screening; Leapcure ensures the patients who arrive are informed and prepared, not referrals that create coordinator work.

3

Optimize in real time based on site engagement

Channel performance and site contact rates are tracked continuously. Advocacy, digital, and patient support contributions are rebalanced based on referral quality, site intake capacity, and protocol progress. In the completed Phase III CKD rescue, this approach reached 3,250 patients and delivered 302 referrals, bringing cost per enrolled patient to 96% below the industry average in five months.

Phase III CKD Recruitment, Completed as a Rescue. 302 Referrals, 96% Below Industry Cost.

Challenge Context

Indication

Chronic Kidney Disease, Phase III (United States)

Sites

Active US sites.

Challenge

Rescue campaign on a study that was behind schedule. Large but largely undiagnosed and dispersed CKD population; complex eligibility (kidney function, albuminuria, diabetes and hypertension status); cost per enrolled patient running far above budget at the industry benchmark.

Channels deployed

Kidney advocacy community outreach across 30+ participating groups (including National Kidney Foundation, AAKP, Dialysis Patient Citizens, KidneyBuzz, KidneyWorks, and LIFE with Chronic Kidney Disease); precision digital mapped to site capacity; patient support model from first contact through enrollment.

Results & Metrics

Patients reached

3,250 CKD patients reached across all channels.

Referrals delivered

302 patient referrals delivered to sites.

Referral efficiency

16:1 referred-to-randomized ratio.

Cost efficiency in this program

1,900 dollars cost per randomized patient versus a sponsor-reported industry benchmark of 46,060 dollars per enrolled patient, a 96% reduction. Media cost was 5 dollars per patient reached and 900 dollars per randomized patient. Acquisition cost varies by protocol, phase, site selection, and channel mix; this reflects the specific requirements of this program, not a standard rate.

Sponsor savings

Approximately 600,000 dollars saved over the five-month rescue.

Sponsor attribution

Leading Nephrology Sponsor, Phase III CKD.

Four Channels. Built for CKD. Active Before Your Trial Opens.

Leapcure reaches CKD patients through kidney advocacy community outreach, precision digital, a patient support model, and a fourth capability competing vendors rarely offer: making your trial genuinely findable when patients and sponsors ask AI assistants about kidney trials.

CKD Advocacy Network

  • •30+ active kidney advocacy partnerships including the National Kidney Foundation, American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC), KidneyBuzz, KidneyWorks, and LIFE with Chronic Kidney Disease, plus dialysis-center and community networks competitors do not have on their radar.
  • •Content co-developed with advocacy partners, so research reaches patients as a trusted option, not an unsolicited pitch.
  • •Outreach designed to reach the Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities that carry the heaviest CKD burden and have been under-represented in kidney research.

Precision Digital Campaigns

  • •Search, Facebook, Instagram, and kidney-community platforms, optimized for CKD and DKD populations and targeted by geography, disease stage, and site proximity.
  • •Digital is mapped to site capacity in real time, so sites are not overwhelmed and patient quality holds.
  • •On the Phase III rescue, blended media cost was 5 dollars per patient reached, evidence of how efficiently digital scales when paired with advocacy. Digital supports advocacy for CKD; it does not replace it.

Patient Support Model

  • •Every referred patient receives step-by-step guidance from first contact through enrollment, accounting for the burden of CKD management, dialysis schedules, and complex eligibility.
  • •Caregivers and family members are included where relevant; kidney participation decisions often involve a support network.
  • •Patient support is why we deliver enrollment-ready patients to sites, not referrals that create coordinator work. It is the mechanism behind the 16:1 referred-to-randomized ratio on the Phase III rescue.

AEO and AI-Search Visibility for Your Trial

  • •Patients increasingly ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview questions like 'what kidney disease trials am I eligible for?' Leapcure structures your trial's information so it is genuinely retrievable by these engines.
  • •This works through three things, not markup tricks: content rendered in clean, crawlable HTML with self-contained answers; unique first-party data, statistics with dates, and cited sources that demonstrate authority; and presence in the trusted third-party sources AI engines actually cite, such as kidney advocacy organizations and ClinicalTrials.gov, where Leapcure's partnerships and trial listings already live.
  • •We do not promise AI visibility through schema or llms.txt. The asset is factually rich, crawlable content plus presence in the sources patients and AI already trust.

Built on Trusted Relationships in the Kidney Community

Leapcure's CKD advocacy partnerships are active, named, and co-developed, not list purchases.

National Kidney Foundation

Leading US kidney health organization. National credibility anchor.

American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP)

Patient-led kidney advocacy with decades of community trust.

Dialysis Patient Citizens (DPC)

Dialysis-patient advocacy. Direct reach to the highest-need CKD population.

KidneyBuzz

Kidney patient information and community platform with a large engaged audience.

KidneyWorks

Kidney-focused patient community and outreach partner.

LIFE with Chronic Kidney Disease

Active CKD patient community (social). Peer-to-peer reach.

Living with kidney disease? A clinical trial may be an option.

If you are living with chronic kidney disease or kidney failure, a clinical trial may give you access to investigational treatments not yet widely available. We know that managing kidney disease, the appointments, the lab tests, and for some people dialysis, can feel like a lot. Leapcure's team provides step-by-step support, and we include your family or caregivers in the process wherever that helps.

See if a kidney trial may be right for you
Leapcure kangaroo mascot

Leapcure's CKD recruitment team completed a Phase III chronic kidney disease rescue, reaching 3,250 patients, delivering 302 referrals, and bringing cost per enrolled patient to 96% below the industry average, saving the sponsor roughly 600,000 dollars in five months. We deploy advocacy, precision digital, patient support, and AEO channels adapted to your protocol, and we can mobilize within 48 hours of program launch.

Talk to our CKD team