It was New Year’s Eve.
And while most people were raising glasses to resolutions, the founders of Medlar were staring at a whiteboard filled with protocol deviations, audit flags, and broken workflows. They had just finished a clinical trial that nearly collapsed under the weight of manual tasks, duplicated spreadsheets, and fragmented oversight. Instead of walking away, they decided to fix the problem once and for all.
That night, the first sketch of Medlar took shape. A modular platform designed by people who had lived the frustration of trial management and wanted to make research simpler, faster, and more reliable.
Solving the everyday pain of clinical trials
Years of firsthand experience taught the founders a hard truth: inefficiency in clinical research delay life-changing therapies for patients. They saw how small and mid-sized biotech companies struggled with fragmented systems, human errors, rework, and spiraling costs.
Medlar was built to close that gap. The platform brings together multiple essential trial functions (CTMS, TMF, LMS, regulatory tracking, time management, and more) into one integrated, modular system. Instead of juggling five or six different tools, research teams can manage everything in one place, reducing duplication, saving time, and improving oversight.
| Early testing has already shown how powerful that can be. Expert reviewers estimate that Medlar could shorten trial timelines by up to 25% and cut system-related costs by as much as 40%, depending on the study’s complexity. For a biotech startup running its first trials, that can mean saving months and hundreds of thousands of euros. |
From whiteboard to working platform
Since its inception, Medlar has built something real and usable. Three of the platform’s five core modules are already in MVP stage, tested by clinical trial professionals who validate its relevance and potential.
The next step is live testing with pilot users to collect real-world data, refine workflows, and continue expanding functionality. The team is also developing a go-to-market strategy focused on emerging biotech and digital health companies — organizations that need regulatory-ready tools but can’t afford the complexity or price tag of legacy systems.
In parallel, Medlar secured an Innovation Fund grant and joined several accelerator programs, including Labena Ventures, OTP Bank, and EPI Center, gaining mentorship and exposure to investors and partners. These milestones are setting the stage for their next chapter: commercialization.
What makes Medlar different
Medlar isn’t another massive, rigid trial management system. It’s designed with flexibility at its core. Sponsors and CROs can adopt all modules or just the ones they need, knowing they will still integrate seamlessly.
The platform focuses on three things that most legacy systems don’t handle well:
- gap analysis and inspection readiness
- process automation
- affordability and scalability
By combining these features, Medlar is enabling proactive quality management that keeps trials moving.
A team shaped by real experience
The Medlar team is made up of clinical research experts who have spent years navigating the day-to-day challenges of trial management. They’ve handled vendor coordination, document control, regulatory submissions, and inspection prep (the thousands of invisible tasks that make or break a study).
That firsthand understanding gives them a unique advantage. Every feature of Medlar reflects the real-world workflows of researchers, not just theoretical requirements. It’s software built by the very people who once had to work without it.
Their journey has also been one of persistence and learning. From wondering where to start and how to fund their vision, to finding the right collaborators and advisors, they’ve learned to keep moving forward — one calculated risk at a time.
As one founder put it, “The best decision was to start. Every step was a risk, but we believed in our vision. If you stay committed, the right people and opportunities appear when you need them.”
Aligning with the future of research
Clinical trials are evolving. They’re becoming more decentralized, more data-heavy, and more demanding in terms of traceability and compliance. Regulators are pushing for smarter oversight, and sponsors are looking for ways to reduce cost and complexity without compromising quality.
Medlar fits perfectly into that shift. By bringing automation, modular design, and human-centered usability into one platform, it helps teams do more with less.
Socially, the impact runs deeper. When clinical trials run efficiently, patients get access to therapies faster, and research becomes safer and more transparent.
Supporting Medlar means supporting a smarter clinical research ecosystem.
At Labena Ventures, we’re helping them transform lessons learned on the ground into scalable solutions that biotech and digital health innovators can trust. With each milestone, they’re proving that better processes lead to faster progress — and we’re proud to stand beside them as they shape the future of clinical trials.