The Hepatitis B Foundation Blog is an important source of information for people living with hepatitis B, public health advocates and partners, and the general public. This is why it’s so important to keep our blog relevant and up-to-date with everything hepatitis B related! In an effort to improve our work, we are conducting a short survey to hear from you and create content that matters to you.
Our survey should only take 1-3 minutes of your time but your responses will make a huge difference in the readership experience. Please click the link below to complete our survey!
The Hepatitis B Foundation is thrilled to announce the addition of a new clinical trials search tool to our website! People around the world can now easily search for clinical trial opportunities on the Hepatitis B Foundation website. Created by Antidote – a company that designs technologies to link patients with scientific opportunities – the new tool filters through all of the trials listed in the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s database of private and publicly funded studies. Searching for clinical trials can be time-consuming and confusing to navigate, but this resource eases the process by finding the best trials for you based upon a series of questions.
You can now search for hepatitis B, hepatitisD and liver cancerclinical trials with a few simple clicks! Clinical trials are a series of research phases that a new drug must go through in order to be approved for widespread use. They are an essential to proving that a treatment is safe and effective for the larger population. Generally, these trials take 10-15 years to go from the laboratory to the public, but delays in finding or retaining enough volunteers can extend the process.
Diverse participationinclinical trials is needed to make sure that a treatment is effective for all groups. Research diversity matters greatly for several reasons. Studies have shown that different races and ethnicities may respond differently to a certain medication. In addition, researchers need to examine the impact of the medication on the populations that will eventually use them. According to data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), individuals from Africa and Asia or of African and Asian descent consistently remain underrepresented in clinical trials; these populations are also disproportionately impacted by hepatitis B. If these groups are underrepresented in trials for hepatitis B treatments, new drugs may not be as effective in these communities, or there may be side effects that researchers were not aware of.
How Our Clinical Trials Finder Works
Using our Clinical Trial Finder takes just a few minutes. After clicking the ‘search’ button, the user will answer a series of questions of general demographic and health questions to determine what trials are near you and you fit the criteria for. You will be able to view the available trials at any point while answering questions, but answering all of the questions will give you the best results. You will also have the option to leave your email to receive personalized trial alerts for new trials that you are eligible for in your area! The new tool is designed to match those who wish to join a clinical trial to the best option for them; it is not designed to benefit any company.
Benefits of Participating in Clinical Trials
While participating in clinical trials helps drug developers, it can also provide major benefits to the participant as well! Blood work, treatments, and monitoring – which can be expensive – are often provided for free to those who are eligible for the duration of their participation in the study. Volunteers can also potentially benefit from the latest medical advancements and developments!
Help Improve the Future of Clinical Trials
You can also help improve the future of drug development and clinical trials by taking our patientengagement survey! The survey, which takes approximately 20-25 minutes to complete, will be made available for use by the US FDA and drug development researchers to help clinical trial development for future hepatitis B therapies. All survey responses are anonymous.
If you’ve ever wanted to help guide the future of hepatitis B treatments, now is your chance! The Hepatitis B Foundation has created a short survey that is designed to capture a comprehensive view of the patient experience. The survey, which takes approximately 20-25 minutes to complete, will be made available for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and drug development researchers to help clinical trial development for future hepatitis B therapies. All survey responses are anonymous.
All individuals living with chronic hepatitis B are welcome to take this survey! After answering a few standard questions, participants will be asked whether or not they are currently on treatment for hepatitis B. If they are on treatment, the survey will prompt the participant to answer a few questions about their experience with the medication, such as how it makes you feel to take it,
and what challenges you may face while taking your medication. All participants, regardless of their current treatment status, will have an opportunity to provide feedback on what they hope future medications will look like!
The patient perspective is essential to creating a treatment that is not only effective but something that those living with hepatitis B would be willing to take. Oftentimes, researchers do not have the opportunity to gather insight into what patients are looking for or how a therapy would impact their lives. This can result in missed dosages of a medication, or avoiding a therapy altogether, rendering the treatment ineffective. This survey is also unique because it seeks to capture the diverse experiences of global patients living with hepatitis B. As we want to ensure that new treatments are as universal as possible, gathering the thoughts of both international and national individuals will ensure that different voices and opinions are captured!
The survey is the first part of a multistep process to collect information on the patient experience. In the upcoming months, we will carry out focus groups and interviews to have a better understanding of what it is like to live with hepatitis B, its impact on a person’s daily life, and more. The information collected will help to direct our patient-focused drug development meeting – a chance for stakeholders and those living with hepatitis B to meet and discuss the patient perspective – in June 2020.
The work being done will result in a broader understanding of how individuals are affected by the disease and more informed decisions regarding future hepatitis B therapies. Help guide the future of hepatitis B clinical trials and drug development by taking the survey today!
