Meunier on Clinical Research

The most important thing for a potential clinical trial volunteer to know about clinical research is how invaluable a contribution it is to participate. Recruiting volunteers to participate in clinical trials is a well-known and enduring obstacle to research progress, and the effect is staggering: 85 percent of trials across all diseases face delays and 30 percent never even get off the ground due to low enrollment. And Parkinson’s disease (PD) trials are no exception – fewer than 10 percent of Parkinson’s patients participate. Today, there are more promising Parkinson’s drugs in the development pipeline than we’ve seen in decades, if not ever. In the context of this encouraging progress, the participation of Parkinson’s patients and control volunteers in PD research is critical to sustaining this momentum. In the clinical research landscape, no amount of funding or other resources can ever make up for a lack of clinical trial volunteers. That’s why The Michael J. Fox Foundation has prioritized removing barriers to participation. For example, our online trials matching tool Fox Trial Finder (foxtrialfinder.org) has nearly 46,000 registered volunteers who receive custom lists of ongoing PD trials in their area based on their medical condition, family history and more. Further, this April, we launched Fox Insight, a virtual clinical study and online portal to additional research opportunities that allows volunteers to participate from the comfort of home. Sixteen-...
Source: PHRMA - Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Source Type: news