GAP’s statement: Study cites limited awareness among patients and physicians, anxiety, and lack of quick diagnostics
Washington, DC (August 20, 2020) – The President of the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP), John Dwyer, issued the following statement regarding a University of Southern California Louis D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics white paper, “Key Barriers to Clinical Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease,” which accurately diagnoses why Alzheimer’s research is struggling to recruit volunteers for clinical trials.
“The USC team has accurately identified the challenges facing Alzheimer’s clinical trials, but they won’t be solved without an infusion of innovation, commitment, and better targeting of resources.
Right now, the community must take a more disruptive approach to reengineering the design of clinical trials, including specific commitments to increasing the racial diversity of Alzheimer’s trials and the use of digital and blood biomarkers to create faster, less burdensome trial experiences for study participants.
GAP is working with its partners to bring about these changes. We also need to improve the community’s awareness of clinical trials and increase early detection. Physicians should not only learn about Alzheimer’s research; they should talk about it with patients and families who could benefit from this knowledge. People with Alzheimer’s, their families, and our communities deserve no less.”
About the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation
The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP) is a patient-centric nonprofit foundation dedicated to speeding the delivery of innovative medicines to those in need by reducing the time and cost of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. In collaboration with other foundations, research centers and industry, GAP established GAP-Net, a growing network of more than 80 academic and private Alzheimer’s disease research centers across the US and Canada. GAP-Net sites share data, best practices, use of a central Institutional Review Board and common clinical trial contracts. GAP is committed to enhancing clinical trial recruitment and study processes to reduce clinical testing cycles by up to two years. To learn more about GAP, please visit: globalalzplatform.org.
Contact: Pamela Larkin, 408-466-5952, pamelalarkin@rational360.com