Over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about the rise of decentralized clinical trials (DCTs), but not enough has been done to describe the series of seemingly similar elements and methods that can make a clinical trial decentralized.

A nomenclature that is ambiguous has developed as a result of the abundance of trial activities that can be carried out remotely or supported by digital tools. In addition, this has fueled a hazy collective discussion in which "decentralized" trials are not discernibly distinct from one another, despite the fact that, in practice, they may be quite distinct in approach and impact.

Even though some of these remote or virtual methods have been around for a while, we may be witnessing a significant paradigm shift in how clinical research is conceptualized. We at Clinical Trials Arena believe that it is time to move past the understandable hype-talking stage and help the clinical trial ecosystem ride this tidal adoption wave. These strategies have kept trials running during extremely difficult times.
We present the first analysis of a series based on a global DCT Market adoption tracker using a novel taxonomic lens supported by GlobalData. These analyses will shed light on the patterns of adoption of particular digital or non-digital decentralization strategies and components. You, our audience, will gain a better understanding of the DCT landscape by therapeutic area, geography, sponsor, CRO involvement, and other relevant trial characteristics with the assistance of these useful insights.

While we discuss one of the most fascinating developments in the field of clinical research to date, our objective is to make it easier to identify DCT archetypes across the ever-evolving trial decentralisation continuum. We will use our best data-driven reporting each month to provide the most recent information on the clinical trial decentralization landscape as evidence for impact on clinical development KPIs begins to mount and a plethora of decentralization approaches continue to flow into sponsor and CRO toolkits.

The editorial team at Clinical Trials Arena is committed to making a contribution to the overall comprehension of how DCTs are meeting patients where it is most convenient for them and generating clinical evidence in an efficient manner.