GRYT Health and Bristol Myers Squibb are doubling down on their four-part series Diversity in Oncology's interactive sessions with the third session, “Improving Representation of Diversity in Clinical Trials Through Academia and Community Collaboration.”
While there’s been a lot of discussion around the subject of diversity in clinical trials, progress is slow. Part of the problem is dealing with issues in the past with clinical trials and communities of color—understandably, there’s been some resistance. The goal of the event is for academic researchers to talk about the steps they are taking to try to rebuild trust and engage these communities to increase diversity in clinical trials that will lead to better outcomes.
In the wake of COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, people and pharma have been shown a stark picture of some of the inequalities in care. In response, there has been a concerted push to address fixing these issues.
“It feels to me that all stakeholders at the table are trained to ask that basic question: ‘How do we allow this to exist for so long, and what can we do to fix it?’” Kevin Beckford, senior vice president and chief people and compliance officer at GRYT Health, said. “So my hope is it's a door that's been opened, that's been removed and can no longer be closed again. Because in the long run, what we discovered in the pandemic is that social and healthcare inequities affects everyone.”
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With such a past, how can trust be built back into these areas? Beckford says it’s going to take time, but it can be done. It starts with supporting and partnering with local healthcare systems, medical centers and clinics—the ones that may not have been the best funded in the past but were there locally and for the community.
“We need to be sincere. It's not just about programs. It also is about resources, human capital. So, eventually, when you come to say, ‘Hey, we would like to be able to tell you about this clinical trial,’ you won't get, ‘Who are you?’ (But rather), ‘You've been here. I see you care about me. And I see you care about the outcome of my life. So yes, I'm willing to listen to you.’”
Beckford is hopeful for the results of these initiatives.
“To me, cancer—which is something's been with us a long time—I think it's going to be one area of solving inequities that may give us a residual positive impact.”
The first two sessions, "Experience of Diverse Patients and Families in Clinical Research" and "Experience of Diverse Physicians in Clinical Research," are available to download on the Diversity in Oncology site. The final session, "Community Partnership in Clinical Research," will take place March 30.
BMS’ oncology portfolio is led by its checkpoint inhibitor franchise stars Opdivo and Yervoy, which together bring in blockbuster sales each year. Opdivo is BMS’ top-selling immuno-oncology drug, generating $7.5 billion, an 8% increase from last year.