Improving diversity across clinical trials

Trial participation should enable balanced representation of the ethnic and racial diversity of the geographic locations where clinical trials are taking place, says Mike Failly Founder and Managing Director of Zanteris

Wellbeing is a combination of mental and physical health that a ects our environment, biology, social policies, behaviour, and significantly our lived experiences. The personal experiences of citizens in the United States di er based on their ethnicity and race, geographic location, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other socio-demographic features. The team at Zanteris has been exploring the importance of diversity and representation across clinical trials to see how far personal experiences and sociodemographic features impact the results.

An introduction to clinical trials

Clinical trials provide the foundations for assessing the safety, e icacy, and value of clinical treatments and devices, from diets, surgeries, drugs, behavioural approaches, and lifestyle interventions. As the only way to ensure evidence for the safety and e icacy of new interventions or treatments are gathered, clinical trials play a vital role in the medical field. Some groups of patients might react di erently to specific treatment; for instance, women might respond another way than men - sex, age, race, and ethnicity can all impact how communities respond to a product or device.

To account for the various experiences and exposures of di erent communities, it is important to ensure that trial participants are representative of all communities and groups, enabling a more complete view of the e ectiveness, e iciency, and safety of each product.

Diversity and inclusion

Many people experience similar illnesses di erently. It is crucial that clinical trials consider the combination of living conditions and personal experiences of a community, as well as other factors so that all individuals benefit from medical advances. Clinical trials do not always recruit participants that represent a community heavily a ected by a specific medical condition, behaviour, or disease, and on a general basis, evidence shows that these trials rely heavily on white male or female participants.

However, this lack of diversity and inclusion has created gaps in understanding conditions and diseases, preventive factors, and the e ectiveness of treatment across society. It also causes obstructions in the quality of decision-making, as well as in the methods for lessening risk, optimal treatment reactions, and the creation of e icient medications.

Ensuring diversity in clinical studies is a matter of fairness and impartiality. It is essential that trial participation is inclusive, enabling balanced representation of the ethnic and racial diversity of the geographic locations where clinical trials are taking place. This leads to a global view of the epidemiology of the illnesses which are being treated.

“There are groups of being who aren’t included in clinical trials at the moment, but they can contribute a lot,” says Mike Failly. “It’s about expediting the trials as, with a greater population pool, the trial can be completed much more quickly. Time is money in the pharma industry as each new successful drug will be sold in the millions. It will also enable the trial population to have equitable access to the drugs they have trialled.”

Zanteris is dedicated to addressing practical and informational obstructions in clinical study participation to much wider representation. “We are committed to designing clinical studies where enrolment can mirror the ethnic and racial diversity of the geographic locations where these studies are performed and the epidemiology of the illnesses under investigation,” says Mike Failly.

The case for more clinical trials in the Middle East

The Middle East presents a large and varied population and, due to its presence on the global stage, it encourages large expat communities and immigrants. The UAE alone is home to over 200 nationalities, yet the region is seen to have low contribution rates to clinical trials. Reports show that the region only hosts six per cent of all worldwide registered trials, and more than 76 per cent of interventional trials taking place in the UAE are sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry.

Yet the UAE is especially well positioned to become the leader in clinical trials in the Middle East, with Abu Dhabi presenting an attractive environment for international life sciences corporations. According to news reports, the UAE was one of the first countries to engage in clinical trials of coronavirus vaccines and Abu Dhabi made over 300,000 COVID-19 RNA extraction solution samples. With its small ethnically diverse population, it’s the ideal jurisdiction to conduct diverse clinical trials, in turn enabling the fair promotion of health equity, producing more innovative science, and reducing biases in clinical trials.

To promote clinical trials in the Middle East, Zanteris is supporting diversity-focused public policies, encouraging investment among the community. Zanteris is also promoting pharma and biotech clinical trial populations, encouraging a range of participants by building trust and collaborating on accessible information drives.

Undoing under-representation

When participants choose to engage in a clinical trial, they are serving as representatives of their own community. The decision to take part in clinical research is personal and must be made in discussion with a professional health provider and an internal support network.

Advancing inclusive clinical trials or research is multifaceted and involves genomic particulars, as well as the interconnected social drivers of wellbeing. For Mike, achieving a wider range diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical trials needs nothing less than a worldwide commitment to varied, equitable, and inclusive research, which can result in enhanced medical intervention or treatments for various communities.

By involving every community in trials, not only will research become more equitable and e ective, it will also become more widely available, enabling global access to life changing innovation and technology.

Click here for more information and to read the full White Paper: https://www.zanteris. com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ Diversity_Whitepaper_Zanteris_031323.pdf

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