Long-Term Sustainability for Diverse Trial Initiatives

In this Pharmaceutical Executive video interview, LaShell Robinson, head of global feasibility and trial equity at Takeda, discusses strategies to address underrepresentation in clinical trials, particularly in phase III psoriasis trials. Robinson also discusses the company's partnerships with community stakeholders like Inside Edge, Black Health Matters, and Hispanic Communication Global Network to improve engagement, address operational barriers, and prioritize sites with diverse patient demographics. Takeda has also enhanced investigator diversity through multilingual toolkits and educational sessions, and aims to expand these efforts globally by adapting strategies to regional needs.

Pharmaceutical Executive: What are the long-term sustainability plans for these initiatives? How will Takeda ensure that diversity and inclusion remain a priority in its clinical trials moving forward?
LaShell Robinson: We talked a little bit about our US efforts, but we're also intending to expand globally and this trial is included with that. We're also making sure that, region by region, we're adapting the trial to what is best for that region and the perspective that each of those patient populations or communities may bring. We try to get to the community before they've thought of a clinical trial so that they're empowered with that information. Region by region, that may differ. I'm really looking forward to the learnings that we'll get as we're connecting in different areas of the world around clinical research, and how we can make it a reality to connect.

As we may see a change, we are committed to patients, or what I like to call, PTRB: patient, trust, reputation, business. That is our corporate philosophy and those are always our four priorities when we are looking at developing a treatment. When we think about the reflection of disease in our clinical trials and making sure that it accurately reflects the patient population, it really becomes about what's best for patients and making sure that we have the best scientific research to do that.