Early Phase Clinical Trial Enrollment: How To Avoid Delays From The Start

Phase I and II trials are the bedrock of clinical development, yet they face steep recruitment hurdles due to hyper-specific eligibility and first-in-human safety concerns. With early-phase costs reaching up to $19.6 million, enrollment delays do more than stall science—they trigger rapid budget burn and jeopardize critical go/no-go milestones. Explore how you can navigate the "tiny eligible pool" by transitioning from passive site-based referrals to aggressive, patient-centric strategies. Identify primary barriers, such as low public awareness and safety hesitations, and learn how to overcome them with strategies such as a strong recruitment foundation, leveraging outreach channels, streamlining site readiness and activation, and more.

Sponsors, Clinical Project Managers, and Patient Recruitment Leads will find this information essential for protecting downstream timelines. By operationalizing these early-phase strategies, teams can ensure that foundational safety and efficacy data are captured without the delays that derail entire portfolios.