Servier is committed to medicine without borders

Why do certain patient populations respond better than others to a particular treatment? How can we adapt this type of genetic predisposition when developing medicine? Part of the answer to these questions lies in better integration of all categories of patients in the clinical trials that we conduct. Keep reading for the explanation.

Diversity in clinical trials: why is it important?

A more precise representation of clinical practice

An important aspect when initiating a clinical trial is to ensure that the sample is representative of the patient population affected by the disease in question. Recruiting patients from varied backgrounds makes it possible to refine the results in terms of effectiveness and safety of treatments based on the patient profile.

Reproducing the diversity of clinical practices during the clinical trial allows us to validate our scientific hypotheses and allows us to obtain more widely applicable results. The more varied the patient profiles, the richer and more complete our research and results.

Marta Garcia, Director of Patient R&D at Servier

Providing access to treatments to as wide a population as possible

For patients whose medical needs are unmet, access to new therapeutic treatments is a vital necessity. Geographic distribution, for example, presents a challenge both for patients affected by a rare disease and for research. New decentralized and hybrid trial models offer a way to expand access to clinical trials to include patients in remote areas; This also ensures that the patient sample is representative of the population of patients actually affected by the disease worldwide.

This way, patients from typically underrepresented populations can benefit from an treatment that could change their lives.

For Servier: How can we ensure the diversity of our clinical trials?

To ensure the diversity of our clinical trials, we rely on a practical action plan to pave the way for representative recruitment. According to Marta Garcia, one of Serviers' challenges is to broaden the scope of our recruitment for clinical trials.

Expanding access through decentralized trials

In France, it is estimated that more than 70% of patients live more than two hours from the investigative centers carrying out the trials.¹ In a decentralized model, the patient has less need to travel. Their data can be collected remotely, automatically and in real time thanks to new technologies available.

For Servier, using this type of model is a way to include patients who would otherwise escape the scope of investigation centers. For healthcare professionals, this is a way to save time, since the data is analyzed as it is collected.

Adapt protocols to patients

Making clinical trial protocols more accessible to patients also provides greater transparency. To do this, we have simplified and deployed our protocols in all local languages ​​so that each patient participating in a clinical trial can fully understand the issues.

We also cover all costs incurred during the clinical trial process.

Working with patient organizations

Very often, ongoing clinical trials are presented to patients by investigators.

In a scenario where patients are increasingly knowledgeable and taking an active role in their treatment journey, they may even become interested in or ask their doctor to participate in a clinical trial they have heard about.

How to publicize clinical trials? Patient organizations have a major role to play as spokespersons, because their actions reach a wider audience than those of a single prescriber.

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[1] https://www.afcros.com/en/working-groups/decentralised-clinical-trials/ (accessed April 2024)