ACT Brief: Diversity Embedded in Trial Design, Unified Patient Outcome Data, and AI-Informed Protocol Development

This is the Applied Clinical Trials Brief—your fast track to the latest insights shaping clinical operations and drug development.

• In a new video interview, Adrelia Allen, executive director of clinical trial patient diversity at Merck, discussed how diversity has become embedded in trial design and execution across the organization. Allen and ACT EAB member Rebecca Johnson, PhD, examined what accountability looks like internally across trial planning and community engagement, positioning diversity as a foundational design principle rather than a late-stage recruitment challenge.
• Signant Health acquired Ametris to unite electronic clinical outcome assessments with wearable-derived digital outcome measures on a single platform. The combined offering enables sponsors to integrate patient-reported data with continuous, sensor-based evidence without managing multiple vendors or reconciling disparate datasets, with longer-term potential for AI-enabled pattern detection across modalities.
• In a new Q&A from Pharmaceutical Executive, Angela Schwab, CEO of Trialynx, discussed how AI-informed protocol development identifies endpoint and procedure choices that drive missed endpoints and enrollment shortfalls. Lean trial design removes visits and questionnaires that do not directly support objectives, improving data validity and adherence while reducing site burden and patient load—outcomes not achievable through manual copy-and-paste protocol development.

That's all for today's ACT Brief. Join us next week for more updates shaping clinical operations and drug development. Thanks for listening.