Clinical trials face a persistent and well-documented enrollment crisis, according to a presentation at the DPHARM conference. Data shared at the event indicate that about four out of five trials do not hit their enrollment deadlines. That delay creates cascading costs and slows the delivery of new treatments.
The participation gap is especially stark in oncology. Fewer than one in twenty eligible adult cancer patients enters a trial. That means the vast majority of patients who could contribute to medical research are not being reached by current recruitment efforts, even as the demand for faster drug development grows.
The numbers highlight a structural problem rather than a single point of failure. Patient awareness, site capacity, and trial design all play a role. While the source does not propose specific fixes, the scale of the shortfall suggests that incremental changes are unlikely to be enough.