The many trends reshaping clinical trials: An interview with UCB’s Dr Iris Loew-Friedrich

Over the last five years, a confluence of trends have combined to reshape the reality of clinical research. COVID-19 pushed decentralised trials into the mainstream. Global conversations about clinical trial diversity and representation came to a head. And the increasing availability of AI and large, historic data sets has opened up the door for synthetic control arms and digital twins.

As chief medical officer and head of biopharma development solutions at UCB, Dr Iris Loew-Friedrich has been in the thick of these seismic changes since 2008, leading the Belgium-based global pharma company into its own clinical trial future. pharmaphorum sat down with Loew-Friedrich last year to get her thoughts on the ongoing evolution of the clinical trial. The interview has been edited for length.

Jonah Comstock:
So, first of all, tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at UCB.

Dr Iris Loew-Friedrich: I’m a physician by training. I spent the first seven years of my professional career practising medicine in academic hospitals and then moved to industry, and ever since have been working in drug development. I think it has become my passion and my way of serving patients as a physician. I’m very passionate about providing innovative and differentiated medicines to patients.

My role at UCB is twofold. I’m the chief medical officer of the company and I lead an organisation called Development Solutions. We are covering the key drug development aspects, including all of clinical development, regulatory affairs, quality, patient safety and pharmacovigilance, real world evidence, statistics, and also the data office for the company.

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