Lessons learned from the conduct of inpatient clinical trials in a pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic amplified known challenges associated with the conduct of inpatient clinical trials, while also introducing new ones that needed to be addressed.

Methods: Stakeholders based in the United States who participated in the conduct of inpatient therapeutic trials for the treatment of COVID-19 as part of the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines program identified challenges experienced in the conduct of these trials through a series of meeting to discuss and identify common themes. In addition, innovations developed to address these challenges and other potential solutions that may be utilized in future pandemics were highlighted.

Results: Six thematic challenges including infection control considerations, the interplay between provision of clinical care and research, competing clinical trials, arduous consenting procedures, onerous procedural requirements, and participant recruitment including achieving representation of diverse populations were identified and are discussed here.

Conclusions: Consideration of the lessons learned and recommendation outlined here may allow for more efficient conduct of inpatient clinical trials in future pandemics.