Foley Hoag partner Christopher Escobedo Hart joined other thought leaders for Biospace's Denatured podcast for a discussion on the pursuit of adequate representation and how clinical trials are being shaped by the legal environment they operate within.
The 2023 New Benchmarks on Demographic Disparities in Pivotal Trials study indicates that as Black representation increases, clinical trial enrollment time decreases. This is contradictory to what has been reported in the past. However, the highest disparity in clinical trial enrollment remains to be Black or African descent patients, with only a third being enrolled in clinical trials. Understanding not just the benefits on patient lives, but also the cost-effectiveness of adequate representation, pharma companies are continuing to lean into DEI practices for their clinical trials.
In parallel, the legal environment for DEI initiatives has become unstable. With organizations actively pursuing legal cases against DEI initiatives, pharmaceutical and biotech companies must keep a watchful eye on judicial and political activities surrounding DEI and how these will shape the future of the clinical trial space in the United States.
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