Should We Be Thinking About The Ethical Considerations Of Approving Clinical Trials Based On Scientific Merit/Patient Safety When 30 Percent Of Trials Will Never Complete Enrollment? Are We Breaking Our Commitment To Patients?

A | WHEN A DRUG FAILS, THE IMPACT is also felt by the trial participants. These patients agreed to be a part of clinical trials in the hopes of not just advancing science, but also to contribute to finding a treatment or cure for their disease. Many clinical trials fail. Even worse, some fall by the wayside due to incomplete enrollment. The former can’t be helped; that’s the challenge of drug development. But a better job needs to be done in getting full clinical trial enrollment. The current failure rates are unacceptable. In addition, patients who are considering enrolling in a trial should be fully briefed on the challenges involved in the specific study, not just scientific but also operational.

JOHN LAMATTINA, PH.D. is the former senior VP at Pfizer, Inc. and president of Pfizer Global R&D. He is currently senior partner at PureTech Health.