The biggest challenges and changes expected in clinical trials in 2017

Clinical trials are going through a period of great challenges and change at the moment as the industry grapples with technology adoption, patient recruitment and innovative partnerships. We asked a number of leading professionals from pharma, CROs, academia and charities about the biggest challenges they are currently facing and the changes they expect to see in 2017.

Watch all the interviews in the video below.

Technology inevitably came up time and time again, with an emphasis on adopting new tech in faster, more efficient ways. Anna Matranga, MD at AMC Alliances & Consulting, insists 'there needs to be some investment in bringing technology on board and trying to make it compatible with the systems we have in place.' Similarly, Oliver Timmis, CEO at AKU Society, sees a 'much bigger reliance on real world data' replacing Phase III or IV trials.

Rob DiCicco, Vice President of Clinical Innovation & Digital Platforms at GSK, sees a number of hurdles that need to be met before real change can happen:

'We really have to take out the complexity that's been engineered into clinical trials; we are fundamentally asking too much [of the patient]. The faster we can figure out how to make use of information already available through Electronic Health Records for example, the more we can find the right setting to introduce sensorware.'

Away from technology, Virgil Simons, President at Prostate Net Europa, expects major changes in 'how drugs are priced and research is paid for; it's going to be a case of understanding the role of various governments in terms of what pharma is permitted to charge'.