The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to clinical trials due to imposed lockdowns and restrictions on movement, says GlobalData.

GlobalData’s research reveals that the number of trial programmes, the enrolment process for which has been suspended due to COVID-19, jumped from 159 on 9 April 2020 to 740 on 15 June 2020.Disruption of clinical trials

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A total of 311 programmes reported slow enrolment, while another 198 suffered delayed initiation, as of 15 June 2020.

The number of organisations that reported disruptions included 583 industry sponsors/ collaborators, and 452 industry sponsors and contract research organisations (CROs).

Oncology therapy area was the most affected with 369 related trials reporting disruptions, followed by central nervous system, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular therapy areas with 223, 116 and 99 disruptions, respectively.

Further, 98 clinical trial programmes related to infectious disease were affected, 95 of immunology, 82 of metabolic disorders and 63 of respiratory diseases.

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Furthermore, 61 trials for musculoskeletal disorders and 53 for haematological disorders were also impacted.

GlobalData identified that approximately 19% of the trials that were disrupted are in Phase I, 33% are in Phase II and 22% in Phase III. Around 8% of the affected programmes are in Phase IV.

The percentage of trials impacted in Phase I/II, Phase II/III and Phase O were 13%, 3% and 2%, respectively.

The assessment is based on GlobalData Analysis; Client & Subject Matter Expert Interviews; Press Articles; Company Announcements; and Verdict Media​ with data received up to 15 June 2020.