As of 2016, more than 39,000 active clinical trials are registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, a US national registry of clinical trials. Of these trials, an appreciable portion is terminated early due to insufficient number of patients recruited. To help increase and sustain patient participation in these trials, pharmaceutical companies are opting for modern tactics.
One of the more clever and contemporary changes has been to partner with Lyft, a popular rideshare transportation system featuring everyday drivers. The premise behind this is simple: facilitate transportation to and from clinical centers, especially for patients who can't drive or who don't have access to reliable transportation.
Other tactics also involve simplifying the process of clinical trials as much as possible for patients. For example, the pharma giant Eli Lilly realizes the enrollment process can be lengthy and intimidating to many; thus, they are dramatically cutting down the amount of paperwork that patients have to read and consent.
