Are You Reflected in Clinical Trials?

Trust is the cornerstone of healthcare and clinical research, yet many marginalized communities remain underrepresented and underserved. Insights from Sanofi’s A Million Conversations initiative, along with leading expert voices, underscore the trust gap that exists in healthcare – a gap shaped by historical inequities and negative experiences. Closing the gap is essential for improving health outcomes for all.

Introducing education about clinical trials, and sharing the importance of diversity, can help build trust as a precursor to engaging in healthcare related activities, including clinical trial participation. Diversity in clinical trial participation is necessary to help researchers understand if different populations have the same responses to medicines and vaccines.

To improve clinical trial diversity, Sanofi is dedicated to addressing barriers through actions like involving communities when designing clinical trials to reflect inclusivity. By understanding and reducing barriers, we aim to make it easier for individuals to participate in clinical research and increase their representation within the data we generate for our medicines. Our mission is to ensure that inclusivity is at the forefront of clinical trials so that everyone in the communities we serve who wants to participate in them can access them.

Achieving this goal requires a thoughtful and comprehensive approach that raises awareness, provides solutions, and works to overcome mistrust. Let’s take a closer look at how Sanofi’s programs work together to help create a future where there are equitable opportunities for people to participate in clinical trials.

Collaborating to Enhance Centers of Excellence

Clinical trial centers are the backbone of the clinical trial process. These specialized facilities recruit volunteers, conduct research, ensure safety, and analyze data, among other responsibilities.

To support these efforts, Sanofi recently committed $18 million to Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. This funding will help various needs within their programs including hiring clinical research staff, improving infrastructure such as online chat services and pharmacy upgrades, developing customized training programs, and more.

Collaborating with these medical colleges is foundational to enabling these facilities to manage larger and more complex studies with diversity and inclusion integrated at the forefront. This approach involves close collaboration with each site to understand their short- and long-term needs as well as their key areas of therapeutic experience and patient populations, ensuring that the developed solutions are appropriate and effective. This effort is part of a broader goal to provide all patients, especially those historically underserved, with access to clinical trials.

Amplifying Community Engagement and Health Literacy 

While collaboration with clinical trial centers is critical, unifying community engagement activities with key stakeholders fosters trust.

The Sanofi Community Alliance Network (SCAN) initiative brings together an alliance of internal experts, Principal Investigators who lead research at clinical trial centers, and a number of local influential leaders, key partners, and trusted members of the community – like community health workers, religious leaders, and educators. The group was designed to address systemic barriers and foster an inclusive environment that reflects the diversity of populations we serve through direct, on-the-ground engagement.

This is done through ‘boots-on-the-ground’ efforts where educational materials are circulated to members of the community with information on specific disease states, local clinical trials, and the importance of diversity within those trials.  

By leveraging the collective expertise and insights of the dynamic network involved in SCAN, we are not only broadening the diversity of our trials but also empowering people to make informed health decisions.