Backup Sites: The Closers Of Clinical Trials

By Darcy Grabenstein, Director, Content Strategy & Thought Leadership

As baseball season captures the attention of Americans nationwide, parallels can be drawn between the clinical trial recruitment process and the game itself, with runs, hits, and errors serving as apt metaphors. Just as teams strive to cover all bases on the field, sponsors must meticulously plan and execute recruitment strategies to ensure success in clinical trials. However, when recruitment targets are missed, it's akin to a swing and a miss, resulting in costly delays that impede drug development progress.

Recruitment-related delays not only disrupt timelines but also incur significant financial losses for the pharmaceutical industry. Mitigating these risks necessitates proactive measures, including feasibility assessments, contingency planning, and the establishment of backup trial sites. Much like a reserve list in baseball, these backup sites are strategically positioned to step in if recruitment falters, aligning with the industry's shift towards ensuring redundancy and flexibility in trial execution.

With the rising complexity of trials and dwindling site availability, the adoption of backup sites has become increasingly commonplace, reflecting the industry's commitment to maximizing recruitment potential and expediting drug development timelines. As sponsors and CROs load the bases with backup sites, they aim to safeguard against recruitment pitfalls and keep the game of clinical trials moving forward.