ICT: What is the current market need for greater patient recruitment strategies?
Barbara and Nathalie: Recruitment of patients and healthy volunteers for clinical trials is a well-known bottleneck. The success and timelines for attracting and enrolling patients have a direct impact on the time it takes to get a drug or medical device to the market. Delays result in higher operating costs, losses in sales, and many other drawbacks. In recent years, there has been increasing demand for specialised patient recruitment services in Europe. Approaches that apply for US-based clinical trials cannot be copied ‘as is’ for clinical trials in Europe.
In Europe, it is challenging to navigate through the complex regulatory landscape. There are few or no rules and only minimal guidelines with respect to patient recruitment strategies. Additionally, substantial cultural differences across countries require country-specific recruitment approaches and a high degree of customisation.
|