State of clinical research in Germany through COVID-19
We asked sponsors, study sites and patients on the Implications on clinical research from COVID-19. These are the results
Status of clinical research in Germany and COVID-19. There has never been something similar in the recent history in a globalized such as an epidemic. People are being quarantined and asked to stay home. Entire countries are shutting down bringing the public life as we now it to an end.
As one of the leading patient platforms in Germany we one the one hand experience first-hands the economic downturn and the worsening climate but on the other hand wanted to get a comprehensive understanding on how clinical research is being perceived and what subject matter experts think about the current developments. So we set forth and decided to conduct a survey about the state of clinical research and by asking patients, study sites and sponsors, our goal was to get a detailed picture by each stakeholder on how they perceive clinical research regarding the recent developments. Over 1,200 patients, 50 study sites and 25 sponsors have participated and enabled us to share those insights with the broader clinical research community.
Here is what we asked
Willingness to participate in a clinical trial
There seems to be no change in willingness of patients to participate in a clinical trial by the more than 1.300 patients we have asked
55% of all patients see no change in the current willingness to participate in a trial and 58% don’t see any change in the future
Study sites and sponsors seem to think quite similar to patients. 44% of all sponsors and 59% don’t think that the willingness of patients to participate in a clinical trial will change due to the current developments
However, 44% of all sponsors asked still think that the willingness will even decrease
Status of current trials
More than 1/3 of all trials have already been stopped by sponsors
63% of all sponsors have made some sort of changes to ongoing trials.
Interestingely, most study sites don’t see the same sort of changes being made
Both sponsors and study sites see a delay of at least 2 months in their ongoing trials
Sponsors see a 50% longer delay in the trials than the sites currently see
Implications on patient recruitment and retention
Sponsors and study sites estimate both that COVID-19 will have a severe impact on their patient recruitment efforts
Only 6% of all sites don’t see COVID-19 having close to none impact to patient recruitment
Some sponsors (37%) but only a few sites (26%) seem to have some challenges in keeping already randomized patients active in their trials
Status of upcoming trials
A third of all participants don’t see having COVID-19 any impact on their upcoming projects
Nearly half of all study sites asked don’t initiate any new projects right now
New projects will be delayed by more than 3 months and this could even be increased depending on the further measurements coming from the government
These numbers and the current state of clinical research in Germany are to be understood as a snapshot and a status quo. As there are rapid developments in all areas across the country the numbers and the assessments of the clinical research experts can change at any time. A similar situation like that has never been here before so it is great to see that everyone is moving cautiously forward and that patients have not changed their mind when it comes to clinical trial participation
