Report Predicts ‘Push' Trend In Sponsor, CRO Patient Recruitment

The recently released ISR report “The Expanding Web of Clinical Trial Patient Recruitment” predicts that sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) will ‘push’ rather than ‘pull’ patients into clinical trials over the next two years.

The report explains that patients can be recruited into clinical trials in two ways. Prospective patients can be ‘pulled’ into trials by way of their physicians who are also principal investigators of a particular study. On the other hand, patients can be ‘pushed’ into joining clinical trials by encouraging them to actively seek an investigator or trial site, preferably one they have little or no previous contact with.

While 72 percent of patients in ongoing clinical trials have been ‘pulled’, the report indicates a shift to ‘push’ trends in patient recruitment in the future. ISR pointed out that most sponsor companies often find change difficult due to the highly regulated nature of the industry. However, some sponsors and CROs are adapting to the ‘push’ trend.

“Overall, the use of standalone patient recruitment service companies and patient networks is relatively low, but their penetration is expected to increase… Taking different approaches takes time to implement. If you think about the traditional product/ service adoption curve, some sponsors and CROs are early adopters and are “experimenting” with these avenues for patient recruitment and some CROs are pushing hard with their own solutions.”

The company offered several implications for different players in the clinical trial process. For pharma, biotech, and medical device companies, ISR recommended developing ‘push’ plans for patient recruitment even before the trial launch.

“Based on these data and from some of ISR’s other work, there is definitely a framework that can be established for patient recruitment strategies based on the indication and target population of the compound. The more customized you can make a patient recruitment strategy, the better chance it has of success. Planning early never hurts. Ask your service providers for a proactive or triggered plan for patient recruitment before the trial gets started,” the report stated.