09 Jan Raising minority enrollment with creativity and collaboration

By Van R. Johnson, Clinical Leader

The growing need for increased diversity in clinical trials has been emphasized a great deal over the past few years. But the fact is, it can’t be emphasized enough. The FDA has issued several statements and guidance documents surrounding the importance of a diverse population in clinical trials. But the question remains: Are we seeing an increase in the number of individuals from the underrepresented community enrolling in clinical trials?

Clinical Trials Became Less Diverse Since 2018

Per a 2018 report from the FDA on its Drug Trial Snapshots, there is a major imbalance in the representation of underrepresented populations in clinical research. As it pertains to participants in clinical trials, whites made up 69% of research participants, Blacks/African Americans made up only 11% of trial participants, Hispanic/Latinos were 14% of trial participants, and Asians represented just 10%.

Two years later, in spite of diversity efforts, we see an overall decline in underrepresented community participation; FDA numbers for 2020 show a slight shift in the racial composition of clinical trial participants. The report shows that among clinical trial participants, 75% are white, which represents an 8.7% increase, and 8% are Black, which is a 28% decrease from 2018 numbers. Hispanic/Latino participation dropped to 11%, which is a 21% decrease, and Asian participants decreased from 10% to 6%, a 40% drop.

The numbers show that we still have a long way to go. It’s time to go from simply talking about it or having a diversity plan for plan’s sake or slapping the diversity tag on our website to truly being an advocate for initiatives to increase diversity in clinical trials. Some organizations are making great strides in the push for real diversity but the question that I often hear is, “What more can be done?” Read more …