Clarkston Consulting’s Brandon Miller and LaToya Lee Jones recently attended the WOCIP 2025 Cluster Meetings, bringing together life sciences industry professionals to discuss challenges, trends, and opportunities around Advancing Health Equity. Below are their key takeaways from the 2025 WOCIP Cluster Meetings, which outline navigating the health equity landscape. 

4 Themes for Navigating the Health Equity Landscape

1. Embed Pharmacoequity in Drug Development from Day One 

Achieving pharmacoequity requires pharmaceutical companies to prioritize diversity in clinical trials and equitable medication access from the very beginning of drug development. A lack of diversity in trials has historically led to gaps in understanding drug efficacy and safety for underrepresented populations. Early drug labels often stated that pharmacokinetic differences due to race had not been studied, highlighting the need for more inclusive research. 

Barriers such as high drug costs, insurance limitations, and systemic biases further contribute to disparities in treatment access. To address this, pharma companies must incorporate inclusive trial design starting in Phase 1, not waiting until later stages, to ensure broader representation. With increasing regulatory focus on health equity, this is both an ethical and business imperative. Leveraging partners to support structuring inclusive trials will be key to addressing access barriers and aligning their strategies with evolving compliance and market expectations. 

2. Move from Intent to Impact by Crafting a Value Proposition That Drives Meaningful Change 

A compelling value proposition in health equity goes beyond stating good intentions; it must clearly define how a solution delivers measurable impact to the organization’s brand promise. In an industry where access, representation, and outcomes vary widely, organizations must articulate how their initiatives drive equitable change in healthcare delivery, clinical trials, and treatment access. 

Clarity and conciseness are essential. When articulating value, messaging should avoid marketing jargon and focus on tangible health outcomes rather than broad commitments. The strongest value propositions incorporate societal, reputational, or financial value. Your proposition should specifically speak to how you will relieve your customers’ pain points and gain incremental or transformational value.  

Measurable impact should be at the core, demonstrating real-world improvements in access, health outcomes, and inclusivity through data and case studies. Clearly communicate the “how” behind your commitment to achieving inclusive representation in your clinical research, driving meaningful, lasting change in the industry. 

Important Tips to Consider: 

• Language matters, especially in pharmacoequity. Reframe and use language that’s durable, undisputable, and hard hitting.  
• Modify your value proposition for each customer. Value is defined by your customers, so connect to their persona and what they value.  
• Point to wins you’ve accomplished to bolster the credibility of your value proposition. 

3. Proactively Design Inclusive Clinical Research with Real-World Evidence 

Pharmaceutical companies must move beyond relying on retrospective data that mirrors existing disparities and instead proactively design clinical trials with diversity in mind. While real-world evidence (RWE) from insurance claims, electronic health records, and observational studies offer valuable insights, it often reinforces existing gaps in healthcare representation. 

To drive equity, companies must embed diversity strategies at the trial design phase—ensuring underrepresented populations are intentionally included. This means identifying proactive data collection methods, structuring studies for inclusivity, and leveraging RWE without perpetuating disparities. 

With increasing regulatory emphasis on diversity in clinical trials, this shift is both a business and compliance imperative. It’s essential that health equity is incorporated into clinical research, to develop data-driven strategies and ensure regulatory alignment—helping to create more inclusive and impactful studies from the outset.

4. Leverage Effective Change Management to Drive Business and Patient Impact

Driving health equity requires more than moral arguments; leaders need to incorporate business-aligned strategy that resonates with leadership priorities. As regulatory expectations evolve, organizations must integrate inclusion into their core business objectives and operations to ensure patient safety, clinical efficacy, and long-term success. 

Policy shifts and executive orders are reshaping DEI language, making it essential for companies to adapt while staying true to their mission. To secure leadership buy-in, initiatives should be framed around the benefit of taking action (e.g. faster regulatory approvals and improved patient outcomes, and the risk of inaction, compliance risk, incremental costs, etc.). A structured and intentional approach can accelerate sustainable progress. 

Addressing both external (site selection bias, logistical barriers) and internal (legal concerns, shifting corporate language) challenges is key to removing obstacles to inclusion. Embed diversity into your organizational strategy, ensuring compliance, mitigating risks, and improving patient outcomes while navigating industry change.

Moving Forward

This year’s Cluster Meetings emphasized the importance of embedding health equity and pharmacoequity into every phase of drug development, from clinical trials to real-world evidence. A key focus was on the need for proactive, inclusive trial designs and leveraging real-world data to create meaningful, measurable improvements in patient outcomes. The conversation also explored the increasing regulatory pressure for diversity in clinical trials and the significant role that leadership plays in driving these changes. 

Leaders reinforced that a successful approach to health equity requires alignment with business goals that incorporates ensuring patient safety, clinical efficacy, and regulatory compliance. As Pamela Simpkins, speaker at the event, highlighted, “It’s not just about good intentions, it’s about demonstrating measurable impact.” 

Ultimately, the discussions underscored the importance of creating clear, data-driven value propositions that resonate with stakeholders and deliver real change. As the landscape continues to evolve, the industry must embrace inclusive clinical trial designs, leadership-driven change management, and measurable results to achieve lasting impact. 

To dive deeper into our insights on health equity, clinical trials, and inclusive strategies, connect with our team today.