Patient empowerment goes from 'trend to permanent movement' as cancer trial interest grows

Cancer patients from diverse backgrounds are finding empowerment in taking charge of their care as interest in clinical trial participation grows, according to TrialJectory.

The firm made the comments this week after reporting an increase in people from diverse backgrounds signing up to its AI-powered “decision support” platform. The surge reflects growing interest in taking part in clinical trials, says TrialJectory CEO Tzvia Bader.

“The demand for increased access to information and participation in clinical trials has been a growing focus within the cancer patient population," Bader told Fierce Biotech. "There has been an increased level of patient empowerment—from a trend to a permanent movement—especially following the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption it has caused for cancer patients as well as clinical trials at large."

“More and more, patients continue to vie for a seat at the table regarding their treatment decisions, which were historically driven primarily by hospitals and doctors,” Bader said.

TrialJectory also said an increase in patients willing to share ethnicity data was good news for an industry working to improve diversity in drug research. Bader said that 83% of patients using the company's platform share ethnicity data, including more than a third who come from underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds. 

TrialJectory saw 54% growth in new cancer patient users from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds in the first quarter of 2022, according to Bader. 

She cited recent FDA guidelines designed to improve diversity as a key dynamic adding that industry has “a responsibility not only to identify and enroll these patients, but improve the overall design of the clinical trials.”

“The bottom line is that increasing patient diversity within trials is a win-win for both patients and pharma," Bader said. "Having access to more patients ultimately leads to higher and faster clinical trial enrollment rates, which can lead to advanced new therapies hitting the market sooner for patients in need."

TrialJectory has over 65,000 patients registered on its platform with 4,000 new members signing up each month. The firm claims over 1 million patients have been matched with clinical trials through the platform. The aim is to facilitate interaction between patients, trial sponsors and CROs, according to Bader. 

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