CVS Health is launching a business to help connect people to clinical trials and make the trials more efficient, the company said May 20.
Less than 4 percent of U.S. citizens participate in clinical trials, and 80 percent of trials don't meet participant enrollment deadlines, CVS Health said. Additionally, an average of 30 percent of participants drop out before a study is completed. Yet clinical trials are necessary to test new drugs and medical devices.
CVS' new business is intended to drive greater access to clinical trials and create a better experience for participants to improve retention rates.
"Combining clinical trial expertise from across the CVS Health enterprise with our growing connection to the communities we serve will help create a new clinical trial experience that works better for participants, health care providers, clinical research organizations and study sponsors," Troyen Brennan, MD, CVS Health's chief medical officer, said in a news release.
CVS said it collaborated with the pharmaceutical industry to facilitate clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, including recruiting more than 300,000 people for COVID-19 vaccine trials.
Read the full news release here.