Addressing the Lack of Patient Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials

The top priority of life sciences organizations is ensuring the safety and efficacy of new clinical treatments in order to improve the health of the individuals and communities they serve. Naturally, the effectiveness of clinical trials hinges on compiling and analyzing data that accurately reflects the target patient population.

For this reason, patient diversity must be ensured when executing clinical trials, not just for scientific benefits, but also for moral purposes. When a clinical trial participant population consists of individuals from similar backgrounds that largely share the same ethnicity, race, and gender, it limits our understanding of which treatments and medicines are effective for population subgroups. In turn, these subgroups are further marginalized and put at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving safe, effective medical treatment.

The under-representation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical trials in the United States is too staggering to ignore.

On average, the rate of clinical trial participation from racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. ranges from 2%16%, despite making up close to 40% of the population

75% of 32,000 participants in the trials of 53 new medicines approved in 2020 identified as white In the U.S., Latinos make up only 1% of clinical trial participants

In the wake of this disparity, patient diversity is no longer an aspiration for organizations to work towards— it’s a matter of urgency.

One of the greatest challenges facing clinical trials today is the timely recruitment of participants. Recruitment delays can lead to lost potential revenue ranging from $600,000 to $8 million per day per drug. There is a myriad of reasons clinical trial managers struggle to recruit diverse trial populations, including:

■ A lack of awareness and education around the opportunity to participate. ■ Limited patient proximity to research sites. More than 70% of the U.S. population lives more than two hours away from a research site. ■ Protocol requirements that are too disruptive to patients already burdened by disease. ■ Socioeconomic factors such as the disproportionate burden of childcare make women harder to recruit.

The global pandemic only accentuated these problems. In an increasingly digital world, where working with a participant population that accurately reflects those most affected by the diseases you’re researching is essential, life sciences organizations need new data-driven recruitment strategies to overcome diversity barriers.

Lack of diversity in clinical trials isn’t just a recruiting problem—it’s a data problem. Get the full article

The ability to rapidly reallocate resources as needed and act on real-time participant information is a critical step in overcoming patient diversity challenges.

Luckily, the emergence of modern, digitized clinical data management platforms presents a tremendous opportunity for life sciences organizations to gain efficiencies, ensure the efficacy of new treatments, and positively impact the patient experience.

In this ebook, we will examine the role data and real-time analytics play in ensuring life sciences organizations are able to support patient diversity goals for improved trial outcomes.