Community Alliance Network

Taking action to expand patient access

Patients deserve broader, easier access to clinical research. And to advance clinical trial inclusion and equitable access to medicine , sponsors need to reach new and more diverse patient populations.

To better serve both patients and our customers, Parexel has launched our Community Alliance Network — a collaboration that brings clinical research more fully into community health care settings. By partnering with health solutions provider CVS Health and Javara, an integrated research organization, Parexel is expanding the ways in which patients can find and engage with clinical studies.

A new model for clinical research

Currently, only about three percent of physicians and five percent of patients participate in clinical research and among patients who participate, minority groups are significantly underrepresented. Because research activities are concentrated in academic institutions and investigator sites, patients and their providers are often unaware of the work. And even if they’re interested, many lack the time and resources required to join studies.

But our new model makes access to clinical research part of a patient’s routine health care experience. Through the Community Alliance Network, we can take study activities to CVS’s many HealthHUB™ and MinuteClinic® locations and home nursing options across the U.S. We’re also supporting thousands of community practitioners through Javara’s clinical research infrastructure, which eliminates many barriers to provider involvement.

Addressing an industry-wide challenge

Drug pipelines are at an all-time high, with more than 20,000 products under active development. But up to 80 percent of studies fail to meet enrollment timelines and inadequate patient recruitment is the top reason that studies are forced to close early.

The Community Alliance Network builds on Parexel’s existing Site Alliance Network of more than 500 sites and 21,000 investigators. By engaging thousands of additional community and specialist physicians through our latest collaboration, we can:

• Boost trial enrollment potential.
• Support increased trial volume.
• Reach broader and more diverse patient populations.
• Provide personalized patient support that can lead to improved retention.
• Alleviate burdens on traditional investigator networks.

When we link patients to studies through their established care delivery systems, we’re empowering physicians to offer more treatment options. We’re also removing participant barriers and connecting with underserved communities — a win for sponsors, for patients, and for health equity.