Health Affairs July 8, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly transformed much of the medical device, pharmaceutical, and vaccine industries. As Mary McDermott and Anne Newman note in JAMA, “Mitigation efforts [against COVID-19] interfere with all aspects of a successful clinical trial: efficient accrual and randomization, intervention adherence and delivery, and outcome collection.” Quarantine, isolation, and social distancing necessarily limit access to health care institutions for care. Shortages of medical resources and staff are also possible. As a result, many non-COVID-19 trials are being suspended or terminated. Large pharmaceutical manufacturers Eli Lilly, Merck, Pfizer, and Bristol-Myers Squibb have all announced delays in enrollment for ongoing studies and initiation of future studies. According to BioPharmaDive, as of May 15, 2020, nearly 100 companies and 240 trials...