Where are all the studies?
I have heard this question many times this year and have often wondered that myself. In general, studies run in cycles. If you were to take one study drug and follow it through it’s lifecycle which may last one or two studies or all the way to market and beyond which could include dozens of studies, it can take ten years or longer to complete the minimum required studies. With that said, some sponsors may choose to run most of the studies at one CRO which in turn can limit the amount of other studies a clinic can run simultaneously. You also have to consider the size of a clinic. The smaller the clinic, the fewer large subject studies can be ran at one time. Whereas a large clinic can run many large studies at one time. Finally, the process of preparing a study to be ran can be lengthy, especially multiple cohorts since each group of subjects will be analyzed before the next group to see if there are any concerning trends. So, just because a clinic or many clinics seem to have fewer studies than normal does not indicate problems with the industry or with the clinic. It is also important to note that there will naturally be slowdowns throughout the year such as around holidays and towards the end of the summer when a large portion of the subject population returns to college. So, don’t worry. Studies come and go. You just have to catch them at the right time.
