How Does COVID-19 Affect Clinical Research Organizations?
For a lot of us, it’s already hard to remember life before COVID-19 happened. In the blink of an eye, the world was changed forever by the pandemic that continues to wreak havoc around the world.
After being declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization at the beginning of the year, COVID-19 has taken away the lives of more than a million people and has affected almost every aspect of life.
Any clinical research organization is no exception to the impact of COVID-19 and this is how it’s changing the landscape of research and clinical trials today:
COVID-19 is now top priority
With the race for a vaccine or cure against COVID-19 still going on around the world, a lot of the efforts and resources that are put on existing clinical trials are being temporarily shifted to this pandemic.
Leading the quest for the end of COVID-19 are the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Research strategies must be modified
COVID-19 has taken up a lot of the resources of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the effort to be the first to develop therapies or vaccines against this deadly virus.
Other research organizations are also making all the necessary adjustments to their strategies so they can continue with their clinical development programs even with limited resources and support.
Sponsors need to restructure trials due to lesser subjects
The pandemic has changed healthcare and research in a lot of ways. If you’re a clinical research organization, for instance, you’re probably faced with a bigger challenge in finding subjects who will participate in trials.
While this has already been a difficult part of doing research, the pandemic has made it harder to recruit new patients to be part of studies.
This is because of concerns about safety, deviations in healthcare protocols, the overall status of clinical trials, the difficulty of monitoring results and just the general impact of the pandemic on the healthcare sector.
A lot of studies must be delayed
Aside from the challenge of finding the right subjects for research studies, the pandemic has made it harder for clinical research organizations to manage sponsors, sites, and other important elements of a successful clinical trial.
A lot needs to be taken into consideration now that the threats of COVID-19 are still lurking, resulting to a delay in the startup of studies.
High Demand and Limited Supply
Finally, there is the huge challenge in supply chain and logistics due to the strong demand for different pharmaceutical ingredients and pandemic supplies.
Clinical research organizations are seeing some disruptions in clinical trials because of the travel restrictions, quarantines, lockdowns, and social distancing measures being implemented around the world. Logistics are also heavily affected causing a delay in the supplies needed for clinical trials.
No one really knows how long this pandemic will last. But the future lies in the effort of clinical research organizations in finally putting an end to COVID-19 despite the many challenges they are facing today.
The National Institute of Clinical Research is an SMO/CRO with offices and labs in the following cities and states: New Jersey, North Carolina, Austin, San Diego, San Francisco, Bakersfield 93309, Fountain Valley 92708, Garden Grove 92840, Hacienda Heights 91745, Huntington Beach 92648, Las Vegas 89106, Long Beach 90806, Los Angeles 90048, Ontario 91762, Rosemead 91770, San Antonio 78207, Santa Ana 92704, Upland 91786, and Westminster 92683.
