Measuring The COVID Effect On Clinical Trials

As the world begins its transition into a postpandemic existence, it becomes possible to look back on the past two years and begin to quantify the effects that COVID-19 has brought. For the biopharmaceutical industry, clinical trials have been at the forefront. From waves of infection causing inaccessible sites and reduced patient availability, through to the unprecedented development of vaccines and other therapeutics, COVID-19 has permanently changed the nature of clinical research.

These positive and negative effects can be weighed for a clear-headed assessment of how well industry R&D has performed, and whether any immediate lessons have been learned. As this white paper shows, despite the incalculable cost of the pandemic, the clinical trial ecosystem has demonstrated remarkable resilience and emerged in a stronger position than ever before.

Clinical trial conduct and measures of R&D activity are at all-time highs, even when stripping out the boost provided by COVID-19 research. Furthermore, modernization initiatives such as decentralized clinical trials, patient diversity, and novel recruitment models that were underway prior to lockdowns have accelerated in line with the dramatic changes in patient behavior and healthcare delivery. Beyond these immediate and necessary changes, longer-term shifts arising from the pandemic will stretch to innovation in study design and a renewed emphasis placed on clinical trial infrastructure.