As the costs of clinical development are rising rapidly in relation to the other parts of the R&D process it is essential that the recruitment process be as efficient as possible. "A
degree of realism is required in order to optimise subject recruitment for clinical trials. Although there is always a time and cost pressure, any difficulties for a clinical project
could actually be exacerbated if subject recruitment rates are approached in an unrealistic manner", says the paper.
The paper makes a number of recommendations and pointers relevant for all those with an interest in clinical trials.
These include:
>As clinical trials have become larger they have also become more global. The internationalisation of clinical research is also important for companies in order to give local
physicians experience of working with a new product
>When conducting patient studies, it is important to be as proactive as possible to identify sites that will be efficient at recruiting
>As a whole the pharmaceutical industry could be helped in terms of patient recruitment for trials if the public better understood the value of clinical trials and their role in the
development of new medicines.
Format of paper:
>Drug development
>Rising clinical expense
>Patient recruitment matters
>Patient recruitment strategy
>Global recruitment
>The ethical angle
>Encouraging patient participation
The paper is only available from Piribo as a free download, go to
http://www.piribo.com/publications/free_reports/