Pharmacies are no longer just places where you just pick up your prescriptions and snacks. Some offer health care services and advice and now even conduct clinical trials.
CVS (CVS) was the first to enter the clinical trial space in 2021 and announced a partnership in 2022 that would provide a platform to power the service. A few months later, Walgreens (WBA) announced its clinical trial program and a team to lead it. Walmart (WMT) joined the party in October with its own announcement.
In addition to help them grow their businesses, the retailers say the moves will help diversify trials.
A commonly cited statistic during the pandemic, that 90% of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of a pharmacy — even as some locations will shutter this year, could explain why.
That vast physical footprint could prove useful as clinical trials struggle to find diverse patient pools. The current system involves academic sites or hospitals teaming up with manufacturers to conduct the studies. This can sometimes mean the burden of travel creating a barrier to entry, or resulting in candidates dropping out.
It has also resulted in clear racial and ethnic inequities in studies. Only 5% of the U.S. population ends up participating in trials, of which 75% are Caucasian, according to Walgreens chief clinical trials officer Ramita Tandon.
Pharmacies see a role in which they can contribute by identifying potential candidates and help to monitor patients — which would solve the transportation and distance problem from traditional clinical trial sites.
Tandon recently sat down with Yahoo Finance to discuss the company's efforts in the new space.
"We're using our physical footprint as an opportunity for patients to come in and get clinical trial visits completed. Now some of the services that we're able to provide are the low complex services. So screening, diagnostics and some blood draws," Tandon said.
This means that the existing clinical trial infrastructure remains intact, but with the additional help of the pharmacy.
"But we at Walgreens want to help enable and support that ecosystem so patients don't drop out. And in fact, they can come into their local Walgreens, get a normal follow-up visit completed, and keep that patient in the trial and start to improve the overall retention rates on a clinical trial," Tandon said.
The company has built out a team, as well as is relying on access to its patient data to help identify the right candidates. And once a candidate is identified and matched to an appropriate trial, there will be a slew of support services to ensure retention.
"We have created a centralized operations team that consists of project managers, clinical study coordinators, people that are well versed in the clinical trial conduct, and to be able to support, whether we support on-site — so if a patient comes in to our local pharmacies, we'll have staff available onsite— but also if a trial warrants more of a virtual or a hybrid model, we have the opportunity to digitize and use telehealth," Tandon said.
Could the company eventually convert space to dedicate to clinical trials — with multiple rooms inside a pharmacy and building out room for more complex medical devices? Tandon said it's possible.
"Certainly, it's something for us to continue to think about. But today, as we partner with a number of healthcare systems across the ecosystem and across the nation, our goal is to become a support mechanism for healthcare systems or other providers so that ultimately, patients feel comfortable to participate and as well as carry forward with the trial obligations," she said.
