The Evolving Landscape Of Clinical Trial

As a Manager, R&D, and Principal Scientist at West Pharmaceutical Services, Sanjeev Seenath oversees clinical research infrastructure. He is a Pharmacist by training and has worked at The Queen’s Medical Center as an Oncology Clinical Trials Manager and for the State of Hawaii Department Human Service as a Managed Care Specialist. Through these experiences, Sanjeev was able to collaborate with providers and key opinion leaders to drive patient and organizational initiatives. He has gained extensive experience in clinical research, medical affairs, and commercial operations across multiple therapeutic areas. 

Sanjeev has a passion for patient care and takes pride in giving back to the community. He has been an active volunteer at the Seafarers Harbor Medical Clinic, providing care to migrant fishermen that have no access to basic medical care. 

In the light of your experience, what are the trends and challenges you’ve witnessed happening in the Clinical Trial Management space? 

The pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the clinical trial landscape and opened up significant opportunities. Cloud computing, artificial intelligence, predictive and prescriptive analytics, the Internet of Medical Things, and mobile technology can all help to increase efficiency and speed up clinical trial operations. However, they often include challenges like technology gap, reaching out to target patients and resourcing, etc.

What are some of the points of discussion that go on in your leadership panel? What are the strategic points that you go by to steer the company forward?

At the leadership level, the discussions are focused on three main things cost, quality, and reducing time to market. There is always the constant battle of keeping costs low without compromising the quality of our products and ultimately affecting care to our patients. In this rapidly changing environment, the faster we can get our product to the market, the faster we are impactful in changing the lives of patients. Doing so with quality, speed, and simplicity. For Strategic mapping, the company is focused on product improvement, customer satisfaction, and benchmarking standards in a competitive market. 

How do you see the evolution of Clinical Trial Management in a few years from now with regard to some of its potential disruptions and transformations? 

The advancement of digital technologies, decentralized clinical trials, and globalization, are trends that are witnessed with the evolution of the Clinical Trial industry. We are learning that patients are becoming the owner of their own data, and they are the ones who will decide who can access their data. Trials are now shifting from a site focus to a patient focus. This shift will require building new tools to allow the transition. One such example is the need for novel screening and trial recruitment efforts. Another example is informed consent which needs to be done remotely using tools like eConsent. 

"At the leadership level, the discussions are focused on three main things cost, quality, and reducing time to market."

Another key area of advanced technologies is electronic data caption with tools like ePRO quickly capture patient data utilizing devices and apps. This disruption with technologies will allow for improvements in data quality and positively impact patient experience and retention. This will overall allow for optimization of clinical studies and improve health systems on a global scale. 

What would be the single piece of advice that you could impart to a fellow or aspiring professional in your field looking to embark on a similar venture or professional journey along the lines of your service and area of expertise?

The clinical trials industry is evolving every day and as with any field, has its own sets of challenges, but this can always be overcome with learning and through trial and error. What is required is immense perseverance, patience, and dedication. As a pharmacist, one piece of advice would be that patient safety and providing quality care should always remain at the forefront of our thinking and never forget that as homo sapiens, we are born to be lifelong learners.