With advances in genetics and other human data, researchers and doctors will one day be able to practice precision medicine. However, predicting how a patient will respond to a medicine is challenging in under-represented patients who are often not included in clinical trials. This is due in part to systemic issues that deter people from participating in research, especially those who have been historically excluded due to factors such as race, ethnicity, sex, and age.

In this episode, we talk to Ponda Motsepe-Ditshego, vice president and Global Medical Therapeutic Area head in General Medicine at Amgen, about the recognized differences in disease incidence among racial and ethnic groups and new approaches to increase representation in clinical trials.

To dive further into this topic, please join Amgen scientists at the Innovating Clinical Trials Q&A webinar discussion on September 28, 2022. Register for the event here.

Welcome to Innovating Clinical Trials, a special edition podcast series produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. This series is brought to you by Amgen, a pioneer in the science of using living cells to make biologic medicines. They helped invent the processes and tools that built the global biotech industry, and have since reached millions of patients suffering from serious illnesses around the world with their medicines.

Clinical trials are desperate for innovation. Speed and efficiency need to improve as many patients cannot wait over a decade for new, potentially lifesaving medicines, and trial participants often do not reflect the patient population. Because clinical trials are complex and multidisciplinary, there is not a single, simple solution for accelerating progress. In this series, Rob Lenz, senior vice president of Global Development at Amgen, explores the latest approaches in clinical trial design and execution and highlights real-world examples of how scientists can run trials better and faster to develop optimal medicines that benefit patients.