Worldwide, 30,000 clinical trials are taking place, with 7,000 of those in Phase III. Spending on clinical trials is also estimated to reach $68.9 billion a year by 2025.
Clinical trials are undoubtedly essential for healthcare advancement, patient safety and effective treatment. As the industry is continuously evolving, clinical trial industry trends have seen forward-thinking companies stay ahead of the game and in line with future advancements.
In this blog, we’ve detailed some of the key clinical trial industry trends, which are driven by the need to make each phase more efficient, patient-friendly, and capable of generating high-quality data while maintaining regulatory compliance and reducing environmental impact.
Clinical Trial Industry Trends and RDi’s Priorities
At RDi we recognise that the three main concerns when conducting clinical trials are: efficiency, accuracy and patient-centricity.
Efficiency: The process of collecting clinical trial samples must be efficient and robust, to ensure that they do not cause any delays to the collection of data or delay the progress of the study trial as a whole.
Accuracy: When collecting samples and the data associated with them, the methods used must be accurate as this will affect the reliability and integrity of collected data.
Patient centricity: the most important step of a clinical trial is the collection of the samples, this must be participant-centric to encourage as many eligible participants as possible, ultimately without the participants trials wouldn’t be conducted in the first place.
Without consideration of these key factors, the clinical trial industry trends wouldn’t be able to keep up with the various new medicines entering the market.
Advancements in clinical trials are directly linked to providers of clinical trial sample collection kits, like RDi, as we aim to reflect the broader changes in the industry within our offering. RDi aims to improve the efficiency, accuracy and patient-centricity of clinical trials.
Discover some of the latest trends we’ve noted in the clinical trial sector, where we also outline how RDi can deliver innovation which aligns with these advancements:
Trend 1: Decentralised Clinical Trials (DCTs)
During the pandemic, with travel restrictions, distancing precautions and so forth, conducting clinical trials at research sites became very difficult. When visits to hospitals and other health institutions were restricted, we saw how important and useful a decentralised approach to healthcare and clinical trials was.
A decentralised clinical trial refers to trial-related activities that occur at locations other than the clinical trial investigator sites, they can take place digitally, at the homes of trial participants or at healthcare and other private facilities which are local to trial participants.
Implementing decentralised clinical trials came with various opportunities and many new challenges, therefore a lot of work has been executed to ensure that clinical patient care, ethical, legal and technical aspects of a trial are upheld when using a decentralised approach.
In 2022 the EU published a recommendation paper to address the general principles around the conduct of clinical trials with decentralised elements, this was formed by experts from regulatory bodies, ethical committees, investigators, Good Clinical Practice inspectors, patient organisations and healthcare professionals.
With guidance in place on how to ensure participant-centric and risk-mitigation-based approaches, clinical trial companies can continue to reap the benefits of implementing these decentralised elements into clinical trials as standard, including:
- Reduced costs
- Higher data quality
- Improved patient trial experience
- Improved convenience through remote participation
- Eliminating geographic limitations enabling access to a larger pool of potential participants
- Increased trial recruitment
- Streamlined communications
- The ability to facilitate better participant engagement and improve retention rates.
As a provider of CE-marked and MHRA-registered collection kits, we are experts in supporting the self-sampling of participants both at home and in the hospital.
We understand that the samples collected throughout your clinical trial must be collected and packaged appropriately to support the integrity of remotely collected samples. At every point of the journey, ensuring that the participant can successfully use the collection kit and that their sample is protected during transit, reinforces the quality and integrity of Category B samples as they venture between research sites.
Ensuring that you choose a reliable clinical trial packaging company to fulfil at-home sample collection kit needs is the only way to smoothly run a decentralised clinical trial and reduce the need for clinic visits.
In addition to a compliant packaging and sample collection solution, to successfully conduct a decentralised trial, you’ll also need to be able to distribute your kits efficiently.
As a decentralised trial eliminates the geographical constraints of an in-person trial, being able to deliver to all participants across a wide area in a timely manner is paramount.
Our logistics and distribution services enable us to deliver sample collection kits to multiple places within your required timeframes. By working with a business that supports and recognises the clinical trial industry trends, you can be certain that your logistical processes will achieve accurate data. A company such as RDi can offer further support through a reliable fulfilment and delivery service.
Trend 2: Digitalisation in clinical trial industry trends
As a result of technological advancements in electronic communication, health data monitoring and tracked sample collection, the need for in-person visits to clinical sites has been dramatically reduced.
New technologies are expected to significantly impact the clinical trial industry trends and the market itself between 2022 to 2029, as the industry and its participants are shifting towards digitalised preferences with their approaches. This is also fuelled by the demand for personalised medicines.
After being a reputable partner in various clinical trials, RDi has proven our invaluable contributions to technological and data-led clinical trial industry trends. We have implemented various digital aspects to our production lines to ensure that the risk of human error is minimised whilst also meeting the needs of the sector.
Through QR code tracking and camera verification, we can ensure that every sample collection kit in your clinical trial is traceably fulfilled. Through a database that stores participant information, we ensure that each kit received will contain all the components required to appropriately collect a clinical, biological sample.
Our state-of-the-art facilities has the capability to recognise any errors throughout production in real-time, enabling us to rectify and drastically minimise participants receiving incorrect kits.
When you work with RDi, you will also gain access to post-event analytics, detailing intel on the kits sent, including where they’re at in their journey between lab and distribution, the geographical concentrations and behavioural insights apparent in participation.
This enables RDi and our clients to collaborate to ensure a smooth supply chain and streamline our processes further in future trials for maximum efficiency.
Trend 3: Sustainability, key in clinical trial industry trends
The government’s ambitions to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste are having a huge impact on the healthcare industry, all sectors including research and development will need to assess their current procedures to support these ambitions.
To remain competitive in clinical trial industry trends, companies need to focus on reducing excessive plastic use, as well as mitigating waste. It’s here that streamlining the design of sample collection kits can minimise unnecessary components, materials and overall use of plastic
As we aim to be at the forefront of kitting companies that serve clinical trials, our priority has been to reduce plastic in our products and packing components and make sample transport a cost-effective sustainable option for our clients.
Our safe2Pcanter, for example, is an innovative urine collection device, developed in response to market demand. The flat-packed, reduced plastic solution is easy for participants to use whilst also achieving space-saving inventory. The device is used within many of our regulatory-compliant sample collection kits, making self-sampling simpler for the participant whilst saving space and weight in the kit box and on inventory shelves.
Most importantly, however, it is the first UKCA/CE and FDA-registered off-the-shelf urine sample collection which provides up to 95% less plastic when compared to competitor’s solutions.
At RDi, we consider all variables that contribute to sustainability in a bid to enable clinical trial organisations to focus on reducing waste and improving the quality of any sample collected, remotely or in hospital or clinical environments.
Trend 4: Treatment clinical trial industry trends and personalised medicine
There has been a shift in treatment trends that affect clinical trial objectives and subsequent packaging solutions. Personalised medicine is an evolving field, allowing participants to access treatment that is specific to their demographic, genomic or biological characteristics.
Conducting a clinical trial that utilises personalised medicine requires precise sample collection and analysis to understand patient-specific responses at each clinical trial stage.
Not only does this highlight the need for rigorous quality control methods during production to ensure accurate study subject data, but it also demonstrates that advanced packaging designs are even more essential as the requirements continue to evolve, from temperature control to contamination prevention.
All are parameters which RDI can implement into the design of kits and transport packaging!
We understand that clinical trial industry trends are concentrated on personalisation. This is why we can help develop tailored kits that cater to the specific needs of different patient populations and trial protocols. Not only this but our kits can be designed for specific genetic or biomarker analyses so that we can support clinical trial organisations during their personalised treatment research and development.
Trend 5: Improved sample integrity and data quality
As a result of the various clinical trial industry trends, there will always remain an increased focus and expectation to improve the quality of the data that is collected throughout a trial.
Many of these newer approaches, including decentralisation and digitalisation of clinical trials make achieving improved data collection easier, however, the reliability and accuracy of data will always be a direct result of sample integrity.
Sample handling is one large factor that risks the integrity of those crucial Category B biological samples collected during a trial. Our automated production lines input all the necessary components and return packaging within the assembled kit to ensure it is received by the end user and ready for completion without delay. Once the sample is collected, all return packaging is provided so the onward journey experiences no delay.
By eliminating the number of required touchpoints within the transportation of clinical trial samples, RDi helps you prioritise, and improve the integrity of collected samples resulting in the most reliable baseline for accurate data.
Working with RDi enables you to benefit from and implement new strategies to stay focused on upcoming clinical trial industry trends. We facilitate the delivery of efficiency, accuracy, and patient-centricity throughout your clinical trial. Get in touch today to start your journey.
