Clinical Research Continues!

According to a new survey from KCR
by Bryan Katz, KCR Chief Commerical Officer

A report from Moody’s (can be found here) discusses the disruption COVID-19 is having on the clinical research organization (CRO) and the connection between study delays, site closures, patient access and cash flow. While we don’t disagree with their conclusion, we find this doesn’t fully capture geographic variance.

A recent survey conducted by KCR across its portfolio illustrates a regional variance in access to patients and respective clinical research. Across the three regions assessed, U.S., Western Europe and Central-Eastern Europe, we asked our current portfolio of sites to comment on the following.

The results below reflect responses as of April 29th:

*Note: figures in ( ) reflect projections from sites by end of June 2020

Indeed this initial survey across US, Western, Central and Eastern Europe paints a continued effort to address the needs of many patients that are currently participating in clinical trials and likely depend on the trial for access to life changing therapies.

What this means for biotech is that current risks related to the pandemic can be mitigated through a balanced regional mix that considers timely patient access as well as appropriate study-data oversight. This start-up approach may then be phased based on strategic priority.

COVID-19 is a terrible virus and thankfully people all over the world continue to take powerful action to fight it. However, we can’t let it diminish the fight to develop critical therapies across the countless other diseases that impact patients. Re-orientation of a program’s geographical focus can expedite the re-start of interrupted programs.