Walgreens and AstraZeneca: Pioneering Accessible Clinical Trials

In a groundbreaking collaboration, Walgreens, AstraZeneca, and digital health company Evinova revealed at DPHARM 2024 that they have embarked on a long-term initiative to revolutionize patient recruitment for clinical trials. This partnership aims to make clinical trials more accessible by integrating digital, physical, and community elements to reach patients in Walgreens-served communities. The conference session highlighted the importance of choosing the right partners and employing novel recruitment strategies to achieve significant results. The collaboration is set to address the challenges of traditional recruitment methods and bring clinical trials closer to a more diverse and representative patient population.

The Visionaries Behind the Initiative

The conference session brought together three pivotal figures driving the innovative collaboration between Walgreens and AstraZeneca. Kelly McKee, who leads the Innovative Patient Recruitment team at Evinova, a digital health company under AstraZeneca, shared her insights on the initiative’s strategic direction. Her team is tasked with identifying and deploying novel digital strategies to support clinical trials for AstraZeneca and its subsidiary, Alexion. McKee’s focus is on finding the next breakthrough method to engage more patients in clinical research, emphasizing the need for trials to be more accessible and patient-friendly. She highlighted the importance of increasing communication, transparency, and trust and leveraging digital strategies to reach a broader audience.

Eileen Babcock, Senior Director of Clinical Operations at AstraZeneca, provided a perspective from the operational side of clinical trials. Her work spans respiratory, immunology, and rare diseases, and she is actively involved in innovative projects that aim to enhance patient recruitment. Babcock discussed a recent deployment of a mobile unit in Los Angeles and San Antonio, which is part of AstraZeneca’s efforts to reach patients directly in their communities. This initiative is a testament to the company’s commitment to exploring new avenues for patient engagement. Joe O’Rourke, who heads Commercial Development at Walgreens RWE Clinical Trials, brought a commercial perspective to the discussion. With over 20 years in the industry, O’Rourke has built and expanded Walgreens’ business in collaboration with AstraZeneca and Evinova. He highlighted the importance of choosing the right partners to access patients effectively, noting that the partnership addresses the challenge of bringing clinical trials closer to patients and making them more accessible.

Rethinking Patient Recruitment

Kelly McKee elaborated on the broader patient recruitment strategies that Evinova is implementing. She emphasized the need for clinical trials to be more visible and more accessible for patients to enroll in, which requires a comprehensive approach that includes digital innovation and community engagement. McKee pointed out that increasing communication and transparency is crucial for building trust with potential participants. By partnering with companies like Walgreens, Evinova aims to reach individuals who may not be aware of clinical trials as an option, thereby expanding the pool of potential participants. This approach is designed to make clinical trials an option for more people, ensuring that the patient population in trials reflects the diversity of those who will eventually benefit from the medicines.

Eileen Babcock shared AstraZeneca’s approach to addressing the limitations of traditional clinical trial infrastructure. She noted that the current system often fails to provide a diverse patient population that accurately reflects those affected by the diseases being studied. To counter this, AstraZeneca is actively creating opportunities within communities to drive access to clinical trials. Babcock highlighted the importance of grassroots efforts and community involvement in recruiting a more representative patient population, even if it means taking longer to achieve these goals. She emphasized that while traditional methods may offer quicker recruitment, the focus should be finding the most diverse population representing the disease demographics.

Overcoming Challenges in Clinical Trials

Joe O’Rourke addressed the logistical challenges of making clinical trials more accessible to patients. He referenced a statistic from a conference presentation highlighting a 40% increase in the average distance patients must travel to participate in trials. This underscores the need for innovative solutions to bring trials closer to patients. O’Rourke emphasized that the collaboration with AstraZeneca and Evinova is focused on enrolling a more representative population in trials, which requires rethinking traditional recruitment methods. He noted that the partnership aims to address the challenge of increasing patient travel distances by implementing strategies that bring trials to the communities where patients live.

The speakers acknowledged that not all innovative approaches are successful but stressed the importance of learning from each attempt. Kelly McKee compared the process to clinical trials, where not every drug that enters phase one will reach the market. She emphasized the need for partnerships with organizations that understand the complexities of clinical trials and are committed to the process. Eileen Babcock shared insights from their mobile unit initiative, which involved pre-screening for multiple AstraZeneca protocols and providing transportation for eligible participants. Despite initial challenges, the initiative demonstrated the potential for direct-to-patient strategies to yield positive results. Babcock noted that while the volume of participants was not overwhelming, the quality of engagement and the diversity of the patient population were significant achievements.

The Role of Walgreens

Walgreens’ extensive network and trusted presence in communities are central to the success of this collaboration. Joe O’Rourke highlighted that Walgreens serves a diverse population, often in socially vulnerable areas, providing access to patients who clinical trials may not have traditionally reached. This partnership aims to tap into this untapped patient population, offering a broader strategy for patient access. O’Rourke noted that traditional study sites often have patient populations that do not reflect the diversity of the broader community, which is where Walgreens’ extensive reach can make a difference. By leveraging its network, Walgreens can connect with 131 million people, many based in lower-income and middle-income communities.

The collaboration leverages Walgreens’ ability to connect with 131 million people, many based in lower-income and middle-income communities. This demographic is often underrepresented in clinical trials, and the partnership seeks to address this gap by bringing trials directly to these communities. By doing so, Walgreens and AstraZeneca aim to create a more inclusive and representative approach to clinical research, ultimately leading to more effective and equitable healthcare solutions. O’Rourke emphasized that the partnership is about accessing an additive patient population that has not been historically tapped into, thereby broadening the scope of clinical research.

The Importance of the Right Partnership

The session underscored the significance of choosing the right partners in clinical trials. Kelly McKee and Eileen Babcock emphasized the importance of trust, communication, and transparency in their partnership with Walgreens. They praised Walgreens for its expertise and ability to provide real-time data, enhancing the recruitment process’s efficiency and effectiveness. McKee noted that the collaboration is built on mutual respect and a shared commitment to improving patient access to clinical trials. She highlighted that Walgreens’ ability to provide real-time data on patient referrals and site responses is vital to the partnership’s success.

Babcock added that the reputation of Walgreens as a trusted community pharmacy plays a crucial role in building trust with potential trial participants. The presence of Walgreens in local communities provides a level of comfort and familiarity that can help overcome historical mistrust of the research community. This trust is essential for engaging diverse populations and ensuring that clinical trials are representative of the broader patient population. Babcock emphasized that the partnership with Walgreens is about access and creating a high-touch, high-tech experience that optimizes the clinical trial process for all stakeholders involved.

Conclusion

The collaboration between Walgreens and AstraZeneca represents a significant step forward in making clinical trials more accessible and inclusive. Leveraging each other’s strengths and focusing on innovative recruitment strategies pave the way for a more diverse and representative approach to clinical research. This partnership serves as a model for how the right collaboration can drive meaningful change in the clinical trials landscape. The initiative highlights the potential for community-based strategies to transform patient recruitment and ensure that clinical trials reflect the diversity of the populations they aim to serve.