Decentralized Trials and the Challenges to Clinical Trial Logistics

Decentralized clinical trials can reduce patient burden and expand access, but they also introduce new challenges for clinical trial logistics, supply chain management, technology, data, and regulatory oversight.

Decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) are changing where clinical research happens. Activities that once centered almost entirely on the investigator site can now take place in patients’ homes, local health care settings, mobile clinics, and other remote locations, reducing travel and potentially expanding access to trials.

Related to this article

3D medical illustration of a man's inflamed colon | Image credit: © Sebastian Kaulitzki - © Sebastian Kaulitzki - stock.adobe.com

October 12th, 2026

Odyssey's OD-001-Vedolizumab Combo Advances to Phase 2a in UC

Odyssey's 146-patient phase 2a trial will pair OD-001 with vedolizumab, targeting both innate and adaptive immune drivers of ulcerative colitis.

Illustration of large intestine is on the woman's body. Business Woman touching belly painful suffering from enteritis. internal organs of the human body. inflammatory bowel disease | Image credit: © eddows - © eddows - stock.adobe.com

October 15th, 2026

Lilly's Mirikizumab (Omvoh) Hits New IBD Remission Goals

Mirikizumab (Omvoh) achieved comprehensive disease control in 27.7% of UC patients and deep remission in 20.4% with Crohn disease at 1 year.

3D illustration of a round red cell with a glowing orange nucleus at its center against a dark blue background. Evenly spaced around its surface are stylized receptors, each drawn as a chain of colored segments and dots ending in two parallel bars joined by a curved loop. | Image Credit: © Naeblys - stock.adobe.com

October 14th, 2026

After the Pivot: What In Vivo Cell Therapy Offers, and What It Still Has to Prove

As ArsenalBio, TScan, Bristol Myers Squibb, and others abandon ex vivo programs for in vivo engineering, early clinical data and platform differences point to both the promise and the unresolved safety, manufacturing, and regulatory questions of generating CAR-T cells inside the body.

Doctor holding a digital tablet with x-ray of the 3D head of the patient with pain on the neck. Migraine headache concept | Image credit: © steph photographies - © steph photographies - stock.adobe.com

October 14th, 2026

BioNTech's BNT113 Misses PFS Goal in Head and Neck Cancer Trial

BNT113 plus pembrolizumab failed to significantly extend progression-free survival in a 285-patient HPV16-positive head and neck cancer trial.

3D medical illustration of a man's intestines affected by Crohn's disease | Image credit: © Sebastian Kaulitzki - © Sebastian Kaulitzki - stock.adobe.com

October 13th, 2026

Guselkumab (Tremfya) Shows Consistent Fistula Remission in Crohn Disease

Johnson & Johnson's guselkumab achieved up to 29% fistula remission in hard-to-treat Crohn disease subgroups, including prior biologic failures.

Brain cancer poster | Image Credit: © pikovit - © pikovit - stock.adobe.com

October 12th, 2026

T-MAXIMUM's MT027 CAR-T Cleared for Phase 2 Brain Metastases

MT027, T-MAXIMUM's B7-H3 CAR-T therapy, earns a second FDA-cleared phase 2 trial, now testing lung and breast cancer brain metastases.

October 9th, 2026

FAQ: How Much Do You Know About ASOs?

Antisense oligonucleotides are reshaping drug design, from RNase H gapmers to inhaled delivery; this FAQ explains how they work and why trials still fail.

October 9th, 2026

How Surrogate Endpoints Are Shortening Multiple Myeloma Drug Timelines

Bristol Myers Squibb's Nathan Pennell explains how the MRD endpoint supports accelerated approval in multiple myeloma without changing how clinicians monitor patients.