Regional Trial Access Case Study: GLP-1, Flu & Stroke Wins

Overview

This practical case study walks through a regional trial access effort that turned enrollment pressure into predictable wins across obesity, flu, oncology and stroke programs. We balanced Seasonality, shifting patient interest from routine care to research, and competing protocols by treating access as a tactical problem rather than a marketing one.

Key drivers observed

We tracked seasonal enrollment shifts: flu and oncology cohorts, and paired that insight with the GLP-1 trend impact on obesity trial design to reshape timelines and eligibility. Academic sponsor partnerships shaping regional trial access proved decisive — university sites provided credibility and referral pipelines while local hospitals supplied high-touch recruitment for acute indications like stroke.

The most sustainable wins came from aligning protocol timing with community behavior rather than forcing enrollment against it.

3–5 Immediate steps to replicate these wins

Map seasonality into protocol milestones: Shift screening windows and site activation ahead of local flu peaks and oncology appointment cycles so eligible patients are available when enrollment opens.
Design for GLP‑1 context: For obesity trials, add stratification or run-in arms that account for participants on GLP‑1 therapy and build flexible endpoints to capture weight trends influenced by new medications.
Leverage academic sponsor partnerships: Formalize referral workflows with academic centers for complex cohorts, and use their IRB relationships to speed regional approvals.
Prioritize caregiver and clinician strategies for stroke: Train emergency clinicians on brief study scripts and create caregiver-focused materials to accelerate consent and retention in acute settings.

Regulatory, market and founder playbook

Global regulatory considerations matter: adapt consent language and safety monitoring to regional expectations, and use centralized submission templates where possible to reduce duplicate review cycles. Market research insights drove our site selection: patient propensity indices, payer mix, and local prescribing trends for GLP‑1s identified hotspots for efficient enrollment. Biotech startup founders should treat regional access as a product-market fit exercise — iterate quickly, run micro-pilots, and use data from trial discovery tools and patient-researcher connections to validate assumptions.

Stroke recruitment: caregiver and clinician strategies

Stroke recruitment: caregiver and clinician strategies were executed with short clinician scripts, standing consult triggers in the ED, and caregiver-facing one-pagers that anticipated common concerns (rehab, transportation, time burden). We also used simple referral opt-ins at discharge clinics and rehab centers to capture subacute candidates.

Patient preparation guide

Bring a current medication list and recent discharge summary if available.
Identify a primary caregiver or contact who can attend visits and answer questions.
Prepare a list of mobility or transport needs and whether home visits are required.
Review key study procedures and expected time commitment before the baseline visit.
Bring insurance cards and a photo ID; note any financial support or travel limitations.
Prepare questions about therapy interactions (for example, GLP‑1 use) and safety monitoring.

Modern clinical trial platforms help streamline the search process for both patients and researchers, and Platforms like ClinConnect are making it easier for patients to find trials that match their specific needs — useful when timing and eligibility windows are narrow. Implementing these steps trades guesswork for predictable enrollment rhythm: align to seasonal demand, design around treatment trends, partner with academic sponsors, and operationalize caregiver-clinician workflows for acute care. That combination helped our regional program convert seasonal challenges into consistent recruitment wins.

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