How Community-Focused Site Networks Are Transforming The Clinical Trial Landscape

By Kerry Leyden, Commercial Director, MRN Site & Patient Services

Typical clinical research sites are well-known within the industry. As a result, these sites and their patient populations often are overtaxed in supporting several studies simultaneously. Conversely, trial-naïve sites and community sites — despite their access to vast, often untapped patient pools — are often overlooked or do not pursue study participation because of the barriers associated becoming research-ready.

Misconceptions about the ability of community sites and trial-naïve sites to fully support clinical trials, as well as perceived challenges of working with such sites, can make sponsors wary of working with them. But that perception is changing as the industry discovers how valuable well-supported community and trial-naïve sites can be.

Additionally, MRN has the ability to create a pop-up sites: mobile sites that can travel and set up in the heart of patient communities. These pop-up sites are as well-supported as the rest of our network. They are created with the same level of capability as any other site and they are set up specific to the requirements of the study, enabling all procedures to be conducted according to the study protocol. Just as vitally, the use of pop-up, community, and trial-naïve sites creates positive outreach into underserved communities and patient populations.