The COVID Pandemic is continuing to evolve. Governments and companies around the world are striving to develop vaccines and treatments to limit the spread of the dangerous SARS-CoV2 virus (which causes COVID-19). These entities are conducting clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of those options. Major movements are happening in COVID-19 research today.
In this article, we will explore the COVID 19 clinical trials landscape on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Trials in Progress
According to ClinicalTrials.gov, there are currently 1,016 COVID 19 clinical trials centered on the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 as of August 4, 2020. This figure includes interventional studies that are Recruiting, Not yet recruiting, Active not recruiting, and Enrolling by Invitation. It does not include observational studies nor those that have been suspended, terminated, or withdrawn.
The 1,016 figure also includes Early Phase through Phase 4 studies. Here is a breakdown of COVID-related studies by their phase of research.
| Phase of Research | Early | I | I/II | II | II/III | III | IV | TOTAL |
| Active, not recruiting | 5 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 55 |
| Enrolling by invitation | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 25 | |
| Not yet recruiting | 10 | 39 | 30 | 141 | 47 | 91 | 23 | 381 |
| Recruiting | 7 | 48 | 47 | 234 | 60 | 122 | 37 | 555 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 25 | 94 | 89 | 397 | 114 | 228 | 69 | 1,016 |
We also used ClinicalTrials.gov to look at the distribution of COVID 19 clinical trials on a global level. As you can see from the image below, most studies are concentrated in the United States and Europe.
SOURCE: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV
Looking at a map for studies fitting our inclusion criteria as specified above, we can see a trend for the most COVID-19 studies to take place in those states with the highest incidence rates. A closer look at COVID 19 clinical trials map in the United States echoes that sentiment.
SOURCE: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV
The COVID 19 clinical trials map in Europe are targeted on countries that fall within the top 20 countries with the highest confirmed COVID-19 cases, as indicated by the map below.
SOURCE: CLINICALTRIALS.GOV
Understanding COVID
COVID-19 is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and the medical community is working hard to meet the safety needs of the world-at-large. To manage this reality, biopharmaceutical sponsors, CROs, and regulatory agencies are working to adapt to the demands and challenges of the pandemic. Some of these efforts involve substantial changes to study protocols. Many of these adaptions will be temporary stop-gap measures, but others will form the basis of a new reality in clinical research.
Allucent’s Support of COVID Research
As a clinical research organization, Allucent is committed to the fight against COVID-19 and is actively running trials. In June, we began working with Informa Pharma Intelligence to take a deeper look at what is happening to clinical research since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research covered the start of the coronavirus outbreak to the middle of July and continued through to the impact of the pandemic on future research.
Our white paper details the global spread of the coronavirus crisis and the pharmaceutical industry’s response to the pandemic. We recently updated that white paper. You can download it here.