18 Apr The next three years of clinical trials: DCTs, RWE, and beyond

By Ed Miseta, Clinical Leader

Recent years have seen unprecedented innovation in the clinical space. Precision medicine, cell and gene therapies, decentralized trials, real-world data, and the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are just a few of the reasons to be excited about the future of clinical research. But what can we expect to see in the next three years, and what are the challenges sponsor companies will need to overcome?

A webinar hosted by IBM Watson hoped to answer those questions. The discussion featured Lorraine Marchand, general manager of life sciences at IBM Watson Health; Nimita Limaye, research VP, Life Sciences R&D Strategy and Technology at IDC Health Insights; and Greg Cunningham, director of the RWE Center of Excellence at Eli Lilly and Company. The three shared insights into what we might expect to impact trials over the next three years.

In this article the panel discusses precision medicine and real-world data. In part 2 of this article the panel looks at the future of decentralized clinical trials.

The Growth Of Precision Medicine

The first game changer the panel discussed is the advancement of precision medicine. It has moved from exploring single gene mutations to performing research using combinations of genes. This change has the potential to bring better drug targets forward and get the best products to patients faster.

“This has been playing out in the last decade in oncology real-world evidence,” notes Cunningham. “We’ve seen an evolution in precision medicine as we’ve built out the patient record. As we have done that, the marketplace has evolved rapidly, particularly for electronic medical record data and genomic data.”

Pharma companies were happy to get their hands on electronic medical record data. When genetic test results were combined with that data, researchers gained the ability to look at a single mutation and develop better patient outcomes.

Where precision medicine will continue to evolve in 2022 and beyond is the growing use of genetic testing in oncology. This will provide the industry with more data about patients. With more genes at their disposal, researchers can look at groups of genes and the complex combinations of gene mutations. This has the potential to open the door for tools like artificial intelligence to help researchers analyze the complex number of permutations.” Read more …