$6K per SCD referral, not $73K. Built on 25+ advocacy partnerships in the communities SCD patients trust.

Sickle Cell clinical trial recruitment built on advocacy. We delivered 50% of total enrollments and saved 6+ months on our last Phase 1 gene therapy program.

Talk to our SCD teamSee how it works →
12x
More cost-efficient than industry ($6K vs $73K)
Blended referral acquisition cost
6+ mo
Saved off the Phase 1 study timeline
Through advocacy-based recruitment acceleration
10+
Platforms for 25+ PAG campaigns
Active partnership campaigns launched
75%
Of enrollment activity driven by advocacy
The advocacy network was the primary enrollment engine

Understanding Sickle Cell Disease as a Clinical Trial Indication

Sickle Cell Disease trials structurally fail to enroll. The patient population is concentrated in Black and African American communities historically under-represented in clinical research. Communities that carry deep, well-earned mistrust of medical research due to a history of healthcare inequities. Pain crises, hospitalizations, and caregiver dependency disrupt participation. Site capacity is often limited at the community-level practices where SCD patients actually receive care. Together these factors mean generic recruitment campaigns do not work. They do not reach the right patients, and the patients they do reach do not stay engaged through enrollment.

Advocacy partnerships, community health workers, faith-based networks, and caregiver-inclusive engagement are not 'nice-to-haves' for SCD recruitment. They are the strategy. Patients arrive at SCD trials through people and organizations they already trust. OneSCDvoice, community advocacy hubs, ambassador networks, faith communities, and family advocates, or they do not arrive at all. Only 10% of patients come from flagship organizations; the rest come from the wider community net a recruitment partner has to build deliberately.

Leapcure recruits Sickle Cell Disease patients through the communities those patients actually trust. We launched 25+ partnership campaigns across 10+ platforms on our last Phase 1 SCD gene therapy program, with 75% of enrollment activity driven by advocacy. The result: $6,005 blended referral acquisition cost vs. $73,014 industry average (a 12x cost efficiency), 4 Leapcure enrollments equal to 50% of total study enrollments, 20 additional patients still eligible to screen when enrollment officially closed, and 6+ months saved off the study timeline.

The Challenge

SCD trial recruitment demands more than reach. It demands trust the community has not freely given.

Sickle Cell patients carry deep mistrust. Reaching them requires trusted messengers, not more ads

The Sickle Cell community carries deep, well-earned mistrust of clinical research due to a history of healthcare inequities and limited therapeutic options. That mistrust is the single biggest enrollment barrier for SCD trials. Not awareness, not eligibility, not site availability. It cannot be solved with more digital spend, more cold outreach, or generic 'diversity recruitment' campaigns. It is solved only by partnering with the comprehensive care centers, hematology clinics, advocacy organizations, faith-based groups, and family advocates the community already trusts.

On our last Phase 1 SCD gene therapy program, Leapcure's advocacy-led approach delivered 50% of total study enrollments at $6,005 blended acquisition cost against a $73,014 industry average for SCD. The cost difference is the trust difference, expressed as dollars.

Pain crises, hospitalizations, and caregiver dependency disrupt participation mid-trial

Sickle Cell Disease is not a stable-baseline condition. Patients experience pain crises that require ER visits and hospitalization, often with little warning. Caregivers and family members coordinate logistics, manage medications, and provide transportation. A recruitment process that does not account for crisis disruption, hospitalization timing, and caregiver decision-making loses patients between referral and screening, and between screening and enrollment.

Leapcure's patient support model is caregiver-inclusive and pain-crisis aware. On our last Phase 1 SCD program, we built a site-specific workflow mid-study to keep patients connected through limited site capacity. 20 additional patients were still eligible to screen when enrollment officially closed. Most vendors lose those patients before site referral.

Diverse enrollment is a regulatory and label-breadth issue. Not a marketing line

SCD predominantly affects Black and African American communities historically under-represented in clinical research. That under-representation has had direct regulatory consequences across rare and underserved indications: approved therapies have faced label restrictions because trials failed to enroll representative patients. For SCD specifically, the patient population is the under-represented community. There is no enrollment strategy that does not also have to be a diversity strategy. Vendors who run generic digital campaigns and check the diversity box in their report do not move this number.

Leapcure's advocacy-led model is designed for the community SCD predominantly affects. We launched 25+ partnership campaigns across 10+ platforms. OneSCDvoice, My Three Sicklers, CAYENNE, The Heart of Gold, #BoldLipsForSickleCell, SCD News, Family Caregiver Alliance, Black Women's Health Imperative, African American Male Wellness Agency, and others.

Advocacy is the only strategy that works for SCD, but execution requires the wider net

Sponsors running SCD studies already know that advocacy-led outreach is the right approach. The challenge is finding a recruitment partner with relationships beyond the flagship organizations everyone calls first. Only 10% of SCD patients come from flagship orgs. The rest come from community health workers, ambassador networks, faith-based groups, local chapters, and family advocates that recruitment partners have to build deliberately and maintain over time.

Leapcure's SCD advocacy network spans 25+ active partnership campaigns and 27 unique advocate relationships. From flagship organizations like oneSCDvoice through community-level partners like CAYENNE and #BoldLipsForSickleCell that competitors do not have on their radar. 75% of enrollment activity on our last Phase 1 program came from this network.

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

Every SCD study is different. Leapcure deploys the right mix of advocacy, precision digital, and patient support. Mapped to your protocol, your sites, your patient population, and your timeline. Advocacy leads. Digital supports. Patient support keeps everyone moving forward.

1

Activate trusted advocacy and digital channels for your SCD protocol

Leapcure activates three recruitment channels for SCD: advocacy community outreach (25+ active partnership campaigns across comprehensive care centers, hematology clinics, advocacy organizations, faith-based groups, and family advocates), precision digital campaigns (Google, Facebook, community-trusted platforms. $35 Google referral cost on our last program), and a caregiver-inclusive patient support model. Advocacy leads; digital fills gaps. Channel mix is adapted to the protocol, site locations, and patient eligibility criteria of each program. We can begin disseminating information within a few days of approvals because our existing experience in rare and underserved conditions means we are already deeply connected with 75% of the SCD advocacy ecosystem.

2

Support patients through pain crises, caregiver decisions, and limited site capacity

Every patient is engaged by Leapcure's team before being assigned to a site. We assess protocol eligibility, account for pain-crisis disruption and hospitalization timing, and include caregivers and family members in the decision process. Cultural competency is not an add-on. It is how the team is built. Sites conduct official screening; Leapcure ensures the patients who arrive are informed, prepared, and have a realistic path to enrollment. On our last Phase 1 SCD program, we built a site-specific communication workflow mid-study to keep patients connected through limited site capacity. 20 additional patients were still eligible to screen when enrollment officially closed.

3

Optimize in real time across community channels

Channel performance and site contact rates are tracked continuously. Advocacy, digital, and patient support contributions are rebalanced weekly based on referral quality, site intake capacity, pain-crisis patterns, and protocol progress. In the completed Phase 1 SCD gene therapy program, this approach delivered 50% of total study enrollments, saved 6+ months off the timeline, and achieved a $6,005 blended acquisition cost against a $73,014 industry average. A 12x cost efficiency.

Phase 1 SCD Gene Therapy Recruitment, Completed. 50% of Total Enrollments and 6+ Months Saved.

Challenge Context

Indication

Sickle Cell Disease, Phase 1 Gene Therapy

Sites

Multiple active sites across the US

Challenge

Hard-to-reach, deeply-mistrustful Sickle Cell community; complex gene therapy eligibility; limited site capacity at the community-level practices where SCD patients are managed; high burden of pain crises and hospitalizations disrupting participation; diversity under-representation that has historically threatened label breadth in adjacent indications.

Channels Deployed

25+ Patient Advocacy Group (PAG) partnership campaigns activated across 10+ platforms and methods; precision digital aligned to site capacity; caregiver-inclusive patient support model; new site-specific communication workflow built mid-study to keep patients connected through limited site capacity. 75% of enrollment activity came from advocacy partnerships; 25% from digital.

Results & Metrics

Patients Referred

4 Leapcure enrollments. Equal to 50% of total study enrollments.

Screened

20 additional patients were still eligible to screen when enrollment officially closed. A deeper pipeline than the sponsor needed, retained for future enrollment expansion.

Outcome

Saved 6+ months off the original study timeline through advocacy-based recruitment.

Patient Quality

Advocacy-warmed referrals arrived informed and ready for official site screening. Reducing coordinator burden, addressing pain-crisis timing, and engaging caregivers in the decision process. 27 unique advocate partnerships engaged, contributing 75% of total enrollment activity. Only 10% of patients came from flagship organizations. The rest from the wider community net Leapcure cast across community advocacy hubs, ambassador networks, and faith-based partners.

Sponsor Attribution

Leading Cell & Gene Therapy Sponsor, Phase 1 Sickle Cell Gene Therapy

Four Channels. Built for Sickle Cell Disease. Active Before Your Trial Opens.

Leapcure reaches Sickle Cell patients through advocacy community outreach, precision digital campaigns, a caregiver-inclusive patient support model, and a fourth channel competing vendors do not currently offer: AEO and AI-search visibility delivered to your trial.

Channel 1. SCD Advocacy Network

  • •25+ active SCD partnership campaigns and 27 unique advocate relationships including oneSCDvoice, My Three Sicklers (MTS), CAYENNE, The Heart of Gold, #BoldLipsForSickleCell, SCD News, Family Caregiver Alliance, Black Women's Health Imperative, and African American Male Wellness Agency. Plus community networks competitors don't have on their radar.
  • •Existing experience in rare and underserved conditions means we are already deeply connected with 75% of the SCD advocacy ecosystem and can begin disseminating information within a few days of approvals.
  • •Only 10% of patients come from flagship organizations. The rest come from the wider net Leapcure casts across community advocacy hubs, ambassador networks, comprehensive care centers, hematology clinics, and faith-based groups.
  • •Outreach designed to reach the Black and African American communities SCD predominantly affects. Historically under-represented populations whose under-enrollment has threatened label breadth across rare and underserved indications.

Channel 2. Precision Digital Campaigns

  • •Google, Facebook, and community-trusted platforms. Optimized for SCD patient populations and targeted by geography, disease severity, and proximity to comprehensive care centers.
  • •$35 Google referral acquisition cost on our last Phase 1 SCD program, achieved by using behavioral data during pre-screening to access eligible and interested patients. Best-in-class for the indication.
  • •Digital is the supporting channel for SCD, not the primary one. Advocacy drove 75% of enrollment activity on our last program; digital filled the gaps and provided faster top-of-funnel reach in geographies where advocacy density was lower.

Channel 3. Patient Support Model (Caregiver-Inclusive, Pain-Crisis Aware)

  • •Every referred patient receives step-by-step guidance from first contact through enrollment. Accounting for pain-crisis disruption, hospitalization timing, and the daily reality of managing SCD.
  • •Caregivers and family members are included in the process by default. SCD participation decisions are family decisions, not individual ones.
  • •On our last Phase 1 SCD program, Leapcure built a new site-specific communication workflow mid-study to keep patients connected through limited site capacity. 20 additional patients were still eligible to screen when enrollment officially closed. A deeper pipeline than the sponsor needed, retained for future expansion.
  • •Culturally competent messaging is built into the team, not added as a layer. This is how the patient support model is designed for the SCD community specifically.

Channel 4. AEO and AI-Search Visibility for Your Trial

  • •Patients and caregivers increasingly discover clinical trials by asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview questions like 'what Sickle Cell trials am I eligible for?' or 'are there gene therapy trials for sickle cell near me?' Most recruitment vendors do not structure for this. Leapcure does.
  • •We structure your trial's digital presence: content, schema markup, citations, community placements, and advocacy-network references, so it surfaces in AI-generated answers.
  • •This is a capability competing recruitment vendors do not currently offer, and as AI search continues to grow as a patient discovery path, and particularly as caregivers do much of the trial-search work for SCD patients. The channel compounds over the life of your study.

Built on Trusted Relationships in the Sickle Cell Community

Leapcure's SCD advocacy partnerships are active, named, and co-developed. Not list purchases. Our existing experience means we are already deeply connected with 75% of the SCD advocacy ecosystem.

oneSCDvoice

Leading SCD patient community platform. National reach and trust anchor

My Three Sicklers (MTS)

Sickle Cell Foundation, Inc. Community-led advocacy with deep patient relationships

CAYENNE Wellness Center

Sickle Cell Disease Education & Awareness. Culturally competent education partner

The Heart of Gold

Sickle Cell Foundation of Northern Virginia. Regional community trust

#BoldLipsForSickleCell

Community advocacy and ambassador network. Patient-led awareness movement

SCD News

SCD community media platform. Information dissemination and ambassador stories

Family Caregiver Alliance

Caregiver-focused org. Signals Leapcure includes the family decision-makers SCD participation requires

Black Women's Health Imperative

National health equity organization. Reach into communities SCD predominantly affects

African American Male Wellness Agency

Community health partner. Access to underserved male SCD population

Living with Sickle Cell? A clinical trial may be an option.

If you or someone you love is living with Sickle Cell Disease, a clinical trial may give you access to investigational treatments. Including gene therapy and other emerging options. That are not yet widely available. We know that managing SCD takes everything you have: pain crises, hospital visits, medications, work, family. Research can feel like one more thing on a list that is already too long, and we know the community has been let down before. Leapcure's team provides step-by-step support, includes your caregivers and family in the process, and works with comprehensive care centers and community organizations the Sickle Cell community already trusts. We will not waste your time.

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

Leapcure's Sickle Cell Disease recruitment team has completed a Phase 1 SCD gene therapy program, delivering 50% of total study enrollments and saving 6+ months off the timeline at a $6,005 blended referral acquisition cost (12x more cost-efficient than the $73,014 industry average). We deploy advocacy, precision digital, caregiver-inclusive patient support, and AEO / AI-search channels adapted to your protocol, and we can mobilize within 48 hours of program launch.

Talk to our SCD team