The Huntsville, AL, US-based company has developed the Enhanced Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials (e-DICT) program, a management system with a dynamic database of ethnically diverse potential genomic research and clinical trials participants.
According to the company, the program is expected to help identify the barriers to diverse subgroup participation, specifically racial and ethnic minorities, in US-based clinical trials and support greater participation and retention.
“While racial and ethnic minorities make up 40% of the US population, they make up only 2% to 16% of clinical studies,” Del Smith, Acclinate Genetics’ CEO, told us.
He added that the company’s main goal is “to significantly close this gap by developing the largest and most diverse database” of potential participants, as the database is still expanding.
Smith told us that Acclinate currently has ‘several’ contract research organizations (CROs) evaluating how best to implement e-DICT, adding that the potential adopters will use it for the development of treatments in therapeutic areas including HIV and sickle cell disease.
The company suggests that the program answers an important need, since the significant underrepresentation of ethnically diverse people in genomic research and clinical trials, leads to “greater health disparity and inequality, with dire implications for precision medicine.”
According to Acclinate, actionable insights for people of color and minority populations are not readily available, causing a direct impact on ethical, scientific, and financial measures of success.
