How clinical trial recruitment tech falls short

Hello, and welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Mohana Ravindranath, and I cover digital health and the future of healthcare. Today in healthcare news:

• Johnson & Johnson says a second dose of its COVID-19 vaccine boosted antibodies in a small study;
• The Biden administration is reportedly poised to recommend booster shots after six months instead of eight;
• Companies hawking tech to recruit diverse clinical-trial candidates could be focused on the wrong problem.

If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Send tips, gripes, comments and predictions for healthcare's future to [email protected] or tweet @ravindranize. On to the news…

J&J says a booster shot of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine raises antibody levels and could be given eight months after the first dose

• A second dose of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine boosted antibodies in a small study
• Antibody levels were nine times higher after the second dose than after the original.
• The company plans to meet with US health officials to discuss the possibility of administering the booster eight months after the first dose.

Read more>>

Report: The Biden administration is likely to recommend COVID-19 booster shots after six months instead of eight

• The Biden administration will likely approve COVID-19 booster shots for fully vaccinated adults six months after they're immunized, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• The administration previously said it would call for boosters eight months people got their shots.
• The move is based on data from vaccine manufacturers running on a six-month booster shot schedule.

Get the news>>

Clinical trials have a diversity problem, but tech might not be the answer

• Startups are raising millions to use sophisticated marketing and messaging tech to reach more racially and socioeconomically diverse patients.
• Clinical trials generally underrepresent racial minorities, though COVID-19 vaccine development has highlighted the issue for major drug companies.
• Equity experts say the tech likely won't move the needle on the real issues keeping minorities out of clinical trials, including lack of access to health care.

Read the full story>>

More stories we're reading:

• The Pfizer vaccine's full name - Comirnaty - is a mashup of 'Covid-19', 'mRNA', and more (Insider)
• Mental health-focused tech companies Headspace and Ginger are merging (Stat)
• A new study in JAMA Network Open finds telehealth-facilitated medication abortions to be safe and effective (MobiHealthNews)
• Steven Blum explores how social media changes the "digital afterlife" and grieving (Wired)

-Mohana