Best-In-Class Solutions Accelerate Development Of GLP-1 Therapeutics

By Graham C. Ellis, M.D., executive director, medical science and strategies; Eling Gaines, oversight director, cardiovascular, metabolic and critical care; Rose Blackburne, M.D., MBA, vice president, global head general medicine and women’s health

The therapeutic landscape for GLP-1 receptor agonists is expanding rapidly beyond diabetes and obesity into cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases. As clinical trials rush to evaluate these new indications, researchers face two critical hurdles: participant fatigue and population representation.

Trial design complexity often leads to high drop-out rates. Overcoming this friction requires:

• Investigator Relationships: Principal investigators (PI) play a vital role in explaining the science, managing expectations, and keeping participants engaged.
• Culturally Tailored Support: Centralized dietary counseling aligned with participants’ economic realities reduces daily trial friction.
• Inclusive Protocol Design: Removing unnecessary exclusions on comorbidities ensures cohorts reflect real-world diversity.

Prioritizing patient-centric design and proactive engagement is essential to maintaining statistical power and bringing these life-changing therapies to market.