USA — Amgen has committed to contribute US$8 million to the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program (Winn Award Program), established by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF) over the next four years.
The contribution will allow the program to reach more physicians and medical students, further expanding the initiative’s goal of expanding clinical trial access to underserved patient populations in US communities.
So far, 114 early-stage investigator physicians have been trained through the Winn Award Program. Amgen’s additional funding is expected to reach more than 300 diverse and community-oriented clinical investigators by 2027.
Diversity in clinical trials has long been a problem and has largely not been representative of the U.S. population since participants are typically individuals who live near research centers and have both the time and money to participate.
In 2020, FDA found that 75% of clinical trial participants were white, 11% were Hispanic, 8% were Black, and 6% were Asian.
Lack of diversity in clinical trials hinders the ability to eliminate health disparities and ensure medicines are safe and effective for all patients.
As part of its commitment to health equity, inclusion, and diversity, the BMSF established the Winn Award Program in 2020 to address this issue.
The Winn Award Program currently offers two awards. The first is Winn CDA, a two-year program designed to support diverse physicians and those who have demonstrated commitment to increasing diversity in clinical trial research within their local communities
The second one is Winn CIPP, which is a six-week summer externship during which diverse medical students are provided an immersive experience in community-based clinical research.
The BMSF pledged US$100 million to support 250 Winn CDAs and 250 Winn CIPPs over the span of the program.
In October, Walmart made a move to promote clinical diversity by launching a healthcare research arm as the retailer adds more medical care services and works to address health equity and access for medically underserved populations.
The Walmart Healthcare Research Institute (WHRI), will focus on recruiting individuals from underrepresented groups, including older adults, rural residents, women, and racial/ethnic minorities, for clinical trials and research on chronic conditions.
Initially, the institute will focus on clinical trials for diseases that most impact underrepresented communities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Covid-19, and asthma. In the future, it will also consider research on other conditions like HIV and dementia.
Retailers’ competition in the clinical research space is heating up. According to Reuters, Walmart has joined Walgreens and CVS Health in expanding into clinical research.
CVS Health launched its clinical trial unit in 2021 and has since conducted studies to track the emergence of new coronavirus variants under a contract with U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
CVS is currently working on a flu study and a collaboration with Pfizer to study the long-term effects of Covid-19.
Furthermore, in 2018, Walgreens collaborated with the University of North Texas Health Science Center on a study of African American HIV patients.
To increase diversity among trial participants, the company launched its own clinical trial services in June.
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