Leapcure drove 43% of all enrollments in a Phase 3 dermatomyositis study, and at four sites, every enrolled patient came from us.

Dermatomyositis recruitment built on the myositis community. We deliver enrollment-ready patients to your sites, reducing site burden.

Talk to our DM teamSee how it works →
4 sites
Enrolled 100% of their patients through Leapcure
31
DM advocacy partnerships in our network
75%
Of Phase 2 DM enrollment driven by advocacy
14,389
DM patients pre-screened by Leapcure

Understanding Dermatomyositis as a Clinical Trial Indication

Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare autoimmune inflammatory disease affecting the muscles and skin, with an estimated prevalence of roughly 1 to 6 per 100,000 people. Because the patient pool is small and geographically dispersed, DM trials structurally struggle to enroll. There is no cure, and the patients who do seek research options are concentrated in tight-knit myositis communities (advocacy organizations, peer groups, and online communities) rather than reachable through broad, volume-based campaigns.

Generic third-party recruitment does not solve this. In dermatomyositis, the patients who enroll arrive through people and organizations they already trust. Eligibility is also demanding (shaped by disease activity, prior treatment history, and overlapping autoimmune features) so most patients who express interest will fail screening unless they are matched to the protocol before site referral. That makes referral quality, not raw volume, the thing that moves a DM study.

Leapcure recruits dermatomyositis patients through the myositis communities those patients trust. We activate advocacy partnerships, run precision digital aligned to site capacity, and engage physician and specialist networks, then pre-screen and support patients through enrollment. In a completed Phase 3 DM study, Leapcure's advocacy-led channel mix drove 43% of all enrollments during our scope, reaching 59% at sites that opted in, with four sites enrolling 100% of their patients through Leapcure.

The Challenge

DM trial recruitment demands more than reach. It demands the right relationships.

A small, dispersed rare-disease pool requires trusted messengers, not more ads

Dermatomyositis affects only about 1–6 per 100,000 people, scattered across geographies. They are not reachable through broad campaigns alone; they are concentrated in myositis advocacy communities, peer groups, and specialty rheumatology and neurology practices that require relationship-based access.

In a completed Phase 3 DM study, Leapcure's advocacy-led channel mix drove 43% of all enrollments during our scope, 57% of referrals sourced through advocacy partnerships.

Complex DM eligibility creates screening failure before enrollment begins

DM eligibility is shaped by disease activity, prior treatment history, overlapping autoimmune features, and protocol-specific thresholds. 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 pre-screened 14,389 DM patients across completed programs, assessing protocol eligibility before any patient was referred to a site.

Multi-country DM trials stall when site engagement is inconsistent

DM trials are typically multi-national, with site capacity, advocacy access, and referral patterns varying substantially between regions. When one country falls behind, the program slows. Sites also disengage from recruitment partners when referral quality is low or coordinator burden is high.

In a completed Phase 3 DM study, Leapcure delivered across US and German sites; 7 of 9 enrolling sites had a Leapcure-referred patient, and four enrolled 100% of their patients through Leapcure.

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

Sponsors running DM studies already know advocacy-led outreach outperforms generic digital. The challenge is finding a partner with established, trusted relationships in the myositis community, not vendors who buy list access or run one-off blasts. Content co-developed with advocacy partners positions research as a trusted option, not an unsolicited pitch.

Leapcure's DM advocacy network spans 31 partnerships (including Myositis Support & Understanding, Myositis Warrior, Myositis & Me, MYOCAN, Myositis UK, MDA, NORD, and the Autoimmune Association), driving 75% of enrollment in a Phase 2 DM global study.

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

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

1

Activate the right advocacy, digital, and physician channels for your DM protocol

Leapcure activates recruitment across the myositis community: advocacy community outreach (31 partnerships including national, grassroots, and influencer-led groups), precision digital campaigns (Facebook/Instagram, Google, Reddit, and platform-native advocacy content mapped to geography and site proximity), and rheumatology and specialist physician networks. Channel mix is calibrated to the protocol, site locations, and eligibility criteria of each program, not applied uniformly.

2

Pre-screen and support patients before site referral

Every patient is engaged by Leapcure's Patient Success team before being assigned to a site. We assess protocol eligibility, account for complex DM criteria, and confirm patients understand what participation involves. Caregivers and family 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 across regions. Advocacy, digital, and physician contributions are rebalanced based on referral quality, site intake capacity, and protocol progress. In the completed Phase 3 DM study, this approach contributed 59% of enrollments at opted-in sites and left 18–20 additional eligible patients in the pipeline when enrollment officially closed.

Phase 3 Dermatomyositis Recruitment, Completed. 43% of Enrollments, 100% at Four Sites.

Challenge Context

Indication

Dermatomyositis, Phase 3

Sites

Active sites across the US and Germany

Challenge

Rare, dispersed DM population; complex eligibility (disease activity, treatment history, overlapping autoimmune features); multi-country site coordination across US and EU; site engagement, medical-record delays, and patient travel constraints; advocacy access required to reach the myositis community.

Channels Deployed

15+ advocacy group launches; partnerships including Myositis Support & Understanding, Myositis Warrior, Myositis & Me, MYOCAN, Myositis UK, MDA, NORD, and the Autoimmune Association; precision digital mapped to site capacity; rheumatology/physician outreach; patient support coordinated across regions.

Results & Metrics

Enrollment Share

Leapcure drove 43% of all study enrollments during our scope; 59% at sites that opted in to Leapcure.

Site Coverage

7 of 9 enrolling sites had a Leapcure-referred patient. Four sites enrolled 100% of their patients through Leapcure.

Patients Enrolled

13+ Leapcure patients enrolled, with 18–20 additional patients still eligible to screen when enrollment officially closed.

Channel Mix

57% advocacy, 29% digital, 14% physician; advocacy was the primary enrollment engine.

Funnel Scale

21,176,876 digital impressions · 31 advocacy partnerships · 384 rheumatologists engaged · 14,389 patients pre-screened · 124 assigned to sites.

Patient Quality

Advocacy-warmed, pre-screened referrals arrived informed and ready for official site screening, reducing coordinator burden relative to generic digital recruitment.

Sponsor Attribution

Leading Immunology Sponsor, Phase 3 Dermatomyositis (anonymized per sign-off).

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

Leapcure reaches DM patients through advocacy community outreach, precision digital, physician and specialist networks, and a fourth channel competing vendors do not offer: AEO and AI-search visibility delivered to your trial.

Channel 1: DM Advocacy Network (feature prominently)

  • •31 active DM advocacy partnerships (including Myositis Support & Understanding, Myositis Warrior, Myositis & Me, MYOCAN (Myositis Canada), Myositis UK, MDA, NORD, the Autoimmune Association, and community groups such as r/Myositis and r/Autoimmune), plus grassroots groups and patient influencers competitors don't have on their radar.
  • •Content co-developed with advocacy partners positions research as a trusted option, not an unsolicited pitch. Patients hear about DM trials from sources they already trust.
  • •Parent, grassroots, and influencer groups make up the majority of Leapcure's advocacy reach, the segments traditional recruitment overlooks. This drove 75% of enrollment in a Phase 2 DM global study.

Channel 2: Precision Digital Campaigns

  • •Facebook, Instagram, Google, Reddit, and platform-native advocacy content, optimized for DM-specific populations and targeted by geography and site proximity.
  • •A continuous create→test→analyze→iterate data engine refines image + copy combinations against the highest-performing DM themes (new treatment options; advancing research for the community).
  • •Digital is the supporting channel for DM, not the primary one; it contributed 29% of referrals. Advocacy drives the majority; digital fills the gaps.

Channel 3: Physician & Specialist Networks + Patient Support

  • •384 rheumatologists engaged across completed DM programs, surfacing patients managed in specialty practices but rarely reached by national campaigns (14% of referrals).
  • •Every referred patient receives step-by-step guidance from first contact through enrollment, accounting for DM symptom burden, multi-region logistics, and complex eligibility. Caregivers are included where relevant.
  • •Patient support is why we deliver enrollment-ready patients to sites (14,389 pre-screened), not referrals that create coordinator work.

Channel 4: AEO & AI-Search Visibility for Your Trial (NEW)

  • •Patients increasingly discover trials by asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview "what dermatomyositis trials am I eligible for?" Most recruitment vendors don't structure for this. Leapcure does.
  • •We make your trial's information genuinely retrievable by AI engines: raw-HTML-rendered, factually rich with unique first-party data, and present in the trusted sources AI engines pull from: advocacy orgs and ClinicalTrials.gov. This is real AEO, not schema tricks or AI-specific markup.
  • •As AI search grows as a patient-discovery path, this channel compounds over the life of your study.

Built on Trusted Relationships in the Myositis Community

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

Myositis Support & Understanding

Patient-led myositis community; core trust anchor in the DM diaspora

The Myositis Association / Myositis Warrior

Established myositis advocacy; national credibility for DM and related myopathies

Myositis & Me

Patient-founded community platform; drove a significant share of enrollment activity

MYOCAN (Myositis Canada) / Myositis UK

Regional myositis orgs; validate multi-country reach across NA and EU

MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association)

Neuromuscular umbrella org; breadth across muscle-disease populations

NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders)

Rare-disease umbrella; critical for severe and refractory DM populations

Autoimmune Association

Cross-autoimmune advocacy; patient discovery beyond myositis-specific channels

r/Myositis · r/Autoimmune

Active online communities; grassroots reach and peer trust

Living with dermatomyositis? A clinical trial may be an option.

If you're living with dermatomyositis, a clinical trial may give you access to investigational treatments not yet widely available. We know that navigating research options can feel overwhelming, especially while managing muscle weakness, skin symptoms, and the daily reality of a rare autoimmune condition. Leapcure's team provides step-by-step support, and we include your family or caregivers in the process wherever that's helpful.

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

Leapcure's dermatomyositis recruitment team has completed Phase 2 and Phase 3 DM programs, driving 43% of all enrollments during our scope, 100% at four sites, through 31 advocacy partnerships across the US and EU. We deploy advocacy, precision digital, physician, and AEO / AI-search channels adapted to your protocol, and we can mobilize within 48 hours of program launch.

Talk to our DM team