Diversity Plans and Postmarketing Studies: First Impressions of Anticipated Diversity Requirements in the United States

Introduction

Recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft guidelines are intended to improve representation and formalize the assessment of race and ethnicity in drug development, but how regulators and industry stakeholders plan to implement and enforce new requirements is still being determined.

Materials and methods

Here, a 10-question survey was developed to assess the experiences of industry stakeholders in developing diversity plans. These survey results informed an analysis of postmarketing studies to understand how diversity requirements have been enforced to date.

Results and Discussion

Among 13 survey responders, experience submitting and receiving feedback on diversity plans was limited. A variety of challenges have been associated with developing these plans, including questions regarding regulatory guidance. Sponsors have utilized several data sources, including real-world datasets, to define enrollment goals. Diversity-related postmarketing studies most commonly related to oncologic diseases, and endpoints frequently related to efficacy. Most marketing applications associated with diversity-related postmarketing studies received Orphan drug designation (ODD) and Accelerated Approval.

Conclusions

These results show that industry experience with diversity plans remains limited in the absence of finalized regulatory guidance. Sponsors are beginning to develop strategies for submitting diversity plans, which include identifying key functions and data sources to support enrollment goals, although definitive conclusions were difficult to draw from the small responder pool. In the postmarketing setting, studies are already underway to improve the understanding of racial and ethnic differences in responses to approved drugs. Development programs relating to oncology, which has historically suffered from a lack of diverse representation, have been a primary focus of such studies thus far.