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November 3, Mumbai: Global Issues in Patient Recruitment and Retention: Challenges and Solutions – is the first of its kind international conference in India, where a challenge as crucial and unique like patient recruitment & retention (PR&R) in clinical trials will be discussed.
The conference, organized by Clinical Research Education & Management Academy (CREMA) in association with US-based D. Anderson & Company (DAC), will have experts from the industry, discussing about their experiences in the area of PR&R and explore country-specific strategies to minimize their impact on clinical trials.
PR&R is an issue where CROs/hospitals find it difficult to get the right set of patients for clinical trials. Further, many of the recruited patients drop out in the midst of the trial.
“It will be for the first time that a subject as challenging as PR&R will be discussed at length in the country. A majority of clinical trials conducted in the country are delayed by 8-12 months due to the issue of PR&R. Even after getting recruited, the dropout rate for the patients is very high in the country. If not tackled immediately, India may lose its charm of being the clinical research hub of the world,” said Vijay Moza, Chairman, CREMA.
According to Mr. Moza, factors that may have contributed to the PR&R issue include a lack of awareness among masses about the importance of the need to conduct and participate in a clinical trial, lack of adequate communication support to the patients, and shortage of databases of patient profiles, to assess whether they can be included in clinical trials or not. Dr. Diana L. Anderson, President & CEO, D. Anderson & Company (DAC), US-based specialist on PR&R issues, said multinational pharma company would have to bear a potential revenue loss of $300 million over a new promising drug, if its launch is delayed by a year.
The topics discussed at the conference, will include country-specific regulatory guidelines, customs and practices, challenges of international recruitment programs and strategies for overcoming them, cultural influences on patient recruitment and retention, standard operating procedures for patient recruitment and retention in India, advertising basics, ensuring ethics committee compliance, and case studies.
According to Dr. Anderson, one of the effective ways to minimize the issue could be by imparting quality education in the area of PR&R at a student level.
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