In a continuation of their unusual partnership, Walgreens and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) are joining forces again to boost innovation and access for decentralized clinical trials.
The five-year deal means BARDA—part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—will use Walgreen’s clinical trials ecosystem, which launched back in 2022 with hopes of using the pharmacy retailer’s community reach to increase enrollment and diversity in drug development research. Walgreens’ combination of pharmacies, primary care locations and telehealth services are also already used to offer a hybrid model: decentralized clinical trials.
That’s the focus of the freshly inked deal with BARDA, a pact valued up to $100 million as part of the Decentralized Clinical Operations for Healthcare and Research (D-COHRe) program. The government initiative is designed to build out national decentralized clinical research capabilities to support product development and test out other medical countermeasures that may be used in a public health emergency.
“Our network of community pharmacies and our compliant and secure clinical trial platform enables us to pioneer a comprehensive solution to make clinical research an integral part of a patient’s healthcare journey, especially when it is most critical for the wellbeing of our country, during a public health emergency,” Walgreens’ Chief Clinical Trials Officer Ramita Tandon said in an Aug. 19 release.
It’s not the first time Walgreens and BARDA have joined hands. Earlier this summer, the U.S. government granted Walgreens $25 million to run a decentralized clinical trial assessing how well COVID-19 vaccination protects against future infections. That partnership was BARDA’s first with a major retail pharmacy.