Clinical Trials: Have We Finally Reached The New Normal?

The COVID-19 pandemic brought acute disruption to the clinical trials landscape in 2020. While there was an explosion of trials initiated in infectious disease, clinical trials in other therapeutic areas endured setbacks in enrollment and progression. With the uptake of vaccinations from late 2020 through 2021, and the rollercoasters of variants that dashed hopes of returns to normalcy, the entire health care industry is learning to coexist with COVID-19. Clinical research, however, has adapted more quickly and early signals of recovery have translated into an impressive full-year performance in 2021. Exploring the trends within clinical trials that initiated during 2021, contrasting against pre- and peri-pandemic themes, reveals whether a post-pandemic, new normal has now been established.

According to the industry-leading clinical trial database Trialtrove, 2021 saw more than 10,000 Phase I–III clinical trials initiated for the...