Celebrating The Next Generation Of Connected Clinical Trial And Real-World Data

By Vera Mucaj

The recent advances in clinical trial operations and management, especially during as difficult of a situation as the past year, merit promotion and celebration. This time also calls for a moment of reflection. While there have been significant improvements in how clinical trials are operated, there are still a number of challenges remaining for both clinical trial professionals and trial participants. These range from recruitment and retention, to design and implementation, to safety and efficacy issues which ultimately lead less than 15% of clinical trials to successful drug approval. Moreover, even a successful trial completion does not tell the full story. Long-term follow up is needed for Real World Evidence - to demonstrate efficacy signals and provide peace of mind around an intervention’s safety. While solving multifaceted challenges requires multiple approaches, we recognize that a common denominator across these is a data connectivity challenge. As we celebrate clinical development, the industry should think about the next generation of clinical trials and how seamlessly connecting clinical trial data to real-world data can improve clinical development success rates and propel innovation.