SubjectWell is working with pharmaceuticals to recruit patients for Phase 2 and Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials. The company is leveraging its marketplace and its registry of patients willing to participate in COVID-19 research to meet the demand for vaccine trial participants. SubjectWell is currently connecting over 2,000 patients with research sites per week, and 39 percent of these patients are Black, Latino or Native American.
“Clinical trial sponsors are moving quickly to develop a safe and effective vaccine, but many are struggling to meet the unprecedented need for patients in such a short time, particularly those that are high-risk, high-exposure and ethnically diverse. SubjectWell is uniquely positioned to meet this demand, screening a significant number of patients daily and ensuring a representative population throughout every step of the patient recruitment process,” said Ivor Clarke, CEO, SubjectWell. “This is a historic time for our industry, and there’s an opportunity to address the lack of diversity in clinical research when it arguably matters the most. We’re proud to work with our partners to make sure we are addressing the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has taken on communities of color.”
By providing access to a pool of patients, SubjectWell is helping researchers accelerate last patient in (LPI) while also addressing the lack of diversity in current COVID-19 clinical research. Black and Hispanic populations have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, with COVID-19 infection rates among African Americans approximately five times that of Caucasians (CDC, 2020), yet recent reports show people of color have been underrepresented in COVID-19 vaccine research to date (Bloomberg, 2020). Lack of representation in clinical trials has been a consistent industry issue, with minorities making up fewer than 10 percent of trial participants on average.
In July, SubjectWell conducted a survey in partnership with the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) finding that, during the pandemic, African American patients reported more hesitations when considering participation in non-COVID-19 clinical trials and a greater desire for safety precautions if they were to participate compared to Caucasian patients. As a result, as part of its patient recruitment process, SubjectWell is working with sites to address these hesitations with more patient-centric solutions.