Applied Clinical Trials-06-01-2026

View the Applied Clinical Trials June 2026 issue in an interactive format.

Our June issue of Applied Clinical Trials puts a lens on the sometimes unheralded aspects of study design, including the importance of early rigor in decision-making across execution strategy and vendor oversight.

Optimization challenges spurring cultural, strategic, and organizational change.

Despite clear data quality and regulatory advantages, paper-based clinical outcome assessments persist due to cost asymmetry, trial complexity, startup timelines, and provider capability gaps, though hidden paper costs and loss of institutional knowledge often outweigh upfront electronic implementation expenses.

In this Q&A, Adrelia Allen, executive director of clinical trial patient diversity at Merck, discusses how the company is embedding diversity into clinical trial execution—from protocol design and site selection to long-term community engagement that extends well beyond individual trial timelines.

Safety monitoring generates substantial signal volume across risk-based quality management tools, but only 30% to 36% of signals correspond to confirmed issues, suggesting the need for better prioritization, signal consolidation, and alignment between detection and proportional action.

Managing financial integrity in a complex, milestone-driven operating model.

Participant adherence depends on readiness—a combination of knowledge, calibrated confidence, and real-world mastery—not simply on digital tools, reminders, or education, which are forms of exposure rather than preparation for sustained performance.

Execution instability often originates in strategy timing rather than study conduct, which sponsors can correct by integrating execution oversight expertise earlier in development decisions.

Pharma modernization initiatives stall not from lack of ambition but from expanding governance layers that distance leadership from execution, slowing decision velocity and delaying the systems integration that drives competitive advantage.

As ESG expectations rise across clinical development, sponsors are finding that sustainability efforts gain traction only when embedded into existing vendor oversight and quality management processes rather than treated as a standalone reporting exercise.