Clinical trials capacity should be considered strategic asset

The U.S. government should consider creating a strategic national stockpile of capacity for clinical research. Government could also fund and help create a standing network of clinical trial sites that can immediately respond to future pandemics — and keep them “warm” by using them to conduct research on high-priority public health threats.

These are some of the suggestions in a discussion document prepared for a Sept. 28 virtual workshop the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration is convening for FDA on applying lessons learned from the COVID-19 experience to the clinical evaluation of therapeutics. ...