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When will clinical trials finally reflect diversity?

An analysis of drug studies shows that most participants are white, even though trials are being done in more countries, reveal Todd C. Knepper and Howard L. McLeod.
  1. Todd C. Knepper

    1. Todd C. Knepper is a personalized medicine specialist at DeBartolo Family Personalized Medicine Institute, Moffitt Comprehensive Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA.

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  2. Howard L. McLeod

    1. Howard L. McLeod is chair of the Department of Individualized Cancer Medicine at DeBartolo Family Personalized Medicine Institute, Moffitt Comprehensive Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA.

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Since the late 1990s, the number of countries contributing to the clinical-trial data used by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve drugs has almost doubled (see ‘Going global’). Yet this global expansion of study locations has not been accompanied by an equivalent increase in the racial diversity of people enrolled. In 1997, 92% of the participants in these trials were white; in 2014, we found that this figure was still nearly 86%.

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Nature 557, 157-159 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05049-5

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Supplementary Information

  1. Supplementary Information d41586-018-05049-5

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