MediciGlobal

Andrew Jack’s article published in the Financial Times, December 31, 2009 about the Fall in Clinical Trials of Drugs, highlights the decline of clinical research in the UK. Quintiles provided data that substantiated this assertion, and we too have seen a significant decline in clinical trials conducted in the UK. It should be noted that when the UK was amongst the countries selected for the conduct of clinical trials it was in an era when typically fewer countries were involved, timelines in which to find patients were less pressing, and clinical trials were smaller compared to what regulators require today.

As this article contends, many delays in the conduct of clinical trials in the UK are caused by unnecessary bureaucratic demands and higher costs, yet there are also other constraints specific to conducting clinical trials in this country that should be highlighted.

One of the biggest barriers to patient recruitment for clinical trials in the UK is the limitation of direct-to-patient communications. British patients are ill-informed about clinical trials opportunities; in a medical system where general practitioners are gatekeepers, controlling patients’ access to medicines and medical specialists; it is an unfortunate reality that UK patients are unaware of the clinical trials opportunities that exist. They are in the dark about knowing that clinical trials offer potential access to new treatments and unconstrained access to medical specialists should they meet the basic eligibility criteria for the study.

In countries such as Brazil, Canada, and emerging countries around the world, direct-to-patient communications including advertising provides patients directly with basic information about a clinical trial’s criteria—age, medical diagnosis, and other details for eligibility. Unfortunately limitations in the UK regarding direct-to-patient advertising, severely restrict open communications and dialogue with patients about available clinical trials; thereby curtailing patient recruitment and delaying the timely completion of clinical trials.

The UK is a closed system; it is dependent upon referrals by physicians, many of whom have little to no incentive to advance research or new treatments (that may be eventually limited by the NHS), and many of whom are unable to keep up with the many clinical trial options available.

To regain its leadership role in a changing global clinical research environment, the UK government and NHS must not only address bureaucratic changes for a more rapid review and approval of clinical protocols, but it must also address how patients can be made aware of clinical trial options more readily. After all, direct-to-patient communications proactively provided by patient organisations, the Internet and advertising is changing the way patients’ access information about clinical trials in other countries.

Without the encouragement of direct-to-patient communications, without considering the patient perspective, without overcoming the fear of UK doctors to patients being more informed about clinical trials than they are, the UK will remain far behind in the global and competitive world of clinical trials.

As a specialty patient recruitment company, MediciGlobal has been dedicated to bringing clinical trials directly to patients for nearly twenty years, and well over half that time we have been developing patient recruitment programmes that bring clinical trials to patients in more than 60 countries.

Read the Financial Times December 31, 2009 Fall in Clinical Trials of Drugs article