Breaking through Barriers to Clinical Research and Health Equity

Clinical Trials

Addressing access and diversity challenges and redefining patient experience

Walgreens is redefining the patient experience and increasing access and retention in sponsor-led drug development research. This high-traffic neighborhood pharmacy is building healthcare delivery capabilities to include clinical trials. This shift bucks the tradition of conducting clinical trials at hospitals and academic medical centers.

Walgreens recently launched its clinical trial business model to engage broader and more diverse communities through a combination of the company’s vast foundation of patient insights, partner-enabled health and technology capabilities, and in-person and virtual care options.

The introduction of Walgreens’ clinical trial offerings coincides with recent steps taken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to increase racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials. Twenty percent of drugs have a variation in responses across ethnic groups¹, yet 75% of clinical trial participants are White, while only 11% are Hispanic and fewer than 10% are Black and Asian².

75%

of clinical trial participants are White

11%

of clinical trial participants are Hispanic

10%

of clinical trial participants are Black and Asian

72%

of clinical trial participants are White

11%

of clinical trial participants are Hispanic and fewer

10%

of clinical trial participants are Black and Asian

“Walgreens' trusted community presence across the nation, combined with our enterprise-wide data and health capabilities, enables us to pioneer a comprehensive solution that makes health options, including clinical trials, more accessible, convenient and equitable,” said Ramita Tandon, chief clinical trials officer, Walgreens. “Through the launch of our clinical trials services, we can provide another offering for patients with complex or chronic conditions in their care journey, while helping sponsors advance treatment options for the diverse communities we serve. This is yet another way we are building our next growth engine of consumer-centric healthcare solutions.”

Improving the clinical trial experience with patients in mind

Patient recruitment and enrollment remain challenges in clinical trials. These challenges are further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 80% of trials fail to meet their enrollment goals in the stated timeframes, often contributing to costly delays³. Walgreens is addressing these challenges and improving the overall clinical trial experience by rapidly scaling three portfolio-integrated, patient-centric service lines:

Insights-driven patient recruitment

Walgreens can match diverse patient populations to trials across a range of disease areas. Patient reach and access to an extensive foundation of pharmacy and patient-authorized clinical data make this focus possible. By taking a tech-enabled, compliant-approach to patient identification and creating a large registry of clinical trial participants, Walgreens can reduce the time it takes to match eligible patients to clinical trials.

Trials to patients

Walgreens helps break down access barriers through a compliant, validated and secure clinical trial platform. It’s built on a rigorous compliance and regulatory framework to ensure patient privacy and security. This approach leverages owned and partner digital and physical assets to directly engage patients at home, virtually or in person. This innovative operating model speeds up patient searches, simplifies workflow and enables a faster and more representative collection of trial data.

Real-world evidence and informatics

Presenting new opportunities for the biopharma industry

The evolution taking place in the clinical trials segment is fostering an enormous opportunity for the biopharma industry. Leveraging the scale, capabilities and reach of national retail health clinics and pharmacies helps further transform an outdated clinical trial model. Bringing clinical trials closer to patients also helps to address traditional clinical trial gaps that were further exposed by the pandemic.

Biopharma companies are already playing in this space, making substantial investments to implement strategies and support the framework to scale decentralized trials across their portfolios.

If you are looking for a partner to help you accelerate drug development through improved trial recruitment and retention, expanded patient access and health equity and an enhanced overall trial experience, we want to hear from you.