Participants in clinical trials help answer important questions about potential new treatments, paving the way for future patients. There are no guarantees but being part of a clinical trial also gives patients the opportunity to be first to receive an innovative treatment.
Ideally, the mix of clinical trial participants would mirror the demographics of the population, but minorities remain underrepresented. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in 2020, 75% of participants in clinical trials for 53 new drugs approved in the United States were white even though white people make up 60% of the population. This disparity is widely acknowledged as a problem because people from different ethnic backgrounds may respond differently to medicines.
For example, one study that looked at heart failure therapy found that Black patients were less likely to have coronary artery disease, but more likely to have high blood pressure. The diversity problem is important enough that the authors of a 2021 commentary in The Lancet called increasing diversity in clinical trials “a moral and scientific imperative.”
CSL Behring partners with organizations like the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) that support clinical trial access and transparency through patient awareness, partnerships with patient-facing organizations and public policy.
Watch the video above to learn more.
