Phesi has published the results of its mid-year analysis of 66,935 clinical trials conducted globally in the first half of 2024 from its Trial Acceleratory platform, containing data from over 120 million patients in more than 400,000 cohorts.
The analysis revealed that COVID-19 was no longer in the top five most studied indications. Instead, the top five most studied diseases were breast cancer, solid tumours, stroke, prostate cancer and type 2 diabetes (T2D), and it revealed that three of the top five most studied diseases being studied were in oncology.
In May, Merck & Co – known as MSD outside the US and Canada – shared positive phase 3 results from the KEYNOTE-522 study for its Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with chemotherapy (CRT) in patients with high-risk, early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, which showed that Keytruda demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful overall survival compared to pre-operative CRT.
Similarly, a phase 2 trial led by researchers from the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research revealed that stereotactic body radiotherapy in combination with androgen receptor-targeted agents – a type of hormone therapy – could delay the need for chemotherapy in patients with oligoprogressive prostate cancer.
In addition to this, Phesi acknowledged the “growing interest” in studies of glucagon-like peptide-1s (GLP-1s), as seen in a recent US study conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Ohio.
Results showed that T2D patients treated with the GLP-1 receptor antagonist semaglutide had a decreased risk of developing ten of the 13 obesity-linked cancers, including gallbladder and kidney cancer.
In addition to this, the analysis revealed that 32% of trials were terminated during phase 2, highlighting a 56% increase in pre-pandemic levels while increasing clinical development costs and affecting the rates of new therapies reaching patients.
Dr Gen Li, president and founder, Phesi, commented: “Trial design requires huge volumes of data to ensure participant selection matches the level of precision in the medicines being tested.
“By leveraging predictive analytics, sponsors can design protocols better aligned with the target patient population and identify the best-performing investigator sites with a higher level of precision.”