Addressing Demographic Disparities in Clinical Trials; VC Pledged to 'Do Better' on Diversity, But It's Barely Changed; How how art-tech projects promote an ethical and sustainable economy + more
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Most clinical trials are not representative of the general population or of those with a particular disease. Clinical trials primarily enroll white, male patients, with consistent underrepresentation of women, the elderly, and people of color — especially Black and Hispanic patients. While people of color make up about 39% of the U.S. population, these groups represent from 2% to 16% of patients in trials.
This underrepresentation emerged as an issue during the trial of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. When it was reported that Black Americans represented only 7% of the trial versus 13% of the U.S. population, Moderna slowed the trial to quickly recruit more people of color as participants.
Moderna was the exception. Companies rarely face public scrutiny, don’t need a representative trial to secure the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and believe that recruiting representative patients adds time and expense. Conducting diverse trials has not been mandated and has not been a priority.
With disparities now on the agenda of cure-seeking organizations, the challenge is how to create representative patient data and how to access and engage patients who are people of color.
Read more about this super interesting topic via HBR.
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📌 fermata, Inc. announces partnership with Rosesta Medical BV
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