COVID-19 and Clinical Trials: Current Challenges and Future Directions

Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed a major threat to people's lives across the globe. It has drastically changed the way we perceive this world. A paradigm shift was observed globally as the world’s emphasis shifted to testing, diagnosis, treatment, and developing a coronavirus cure. Clinical trials were also not untouched by this. The coronavirus pandemic has abhorrently affected the day-to-day clinical trial activities at sites. Methods: The status of various ongoing clinical trials was assessed through a literature search, which also includes clinical trial portals. Our evaluations were based on these observations. Results: Multiple challenges were present in clinical trials as recruitment, retention, the safety of trial subjects, protocol compliance, and this made the world to re-think to incorporate newer strategies and to cope with this untoward situation. Conclusion: Digitalization of clinical trials as virtual management of adverse events, remote monitoring visits, and web-based consulting with trial subjects are potential directions that can be applied to better manage clinical trials worldwide.