A new research centre focused on real-world evidence (RWE) for drugs and health technologies has launched at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. The Toronto Centre for Real-World Evidence (T-RWE) will bring together academics, industry experts, policymakers and trainees to build capacity in the field and advance the use of real-world evidence to inform policy and practice.
"The Toronto Centre for Real-World Evidence is an opportunity to move science and impact forward by training the next generation of researchers and bringing together clinicians, policymakers, industry and patients," says Mina Tadrous, associate professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Canada Research Chair in Real World Evidence and Pharmaceutical Policy, and director of the T-RWE. "Real-world evidence helps answer the questions conventional clinical trials can't, like how drugs perform in routine care, who benefits most, and where harms or inequities emerge. Through this centre, we will address pressing questions that matter to people like drug safety, access, and effectiveness."
Traditional large clinical trials remain the gold standard for evaluating the safety and effectiveness of medications, but they often exclude specific patient populations and are difficult to run for rare diseases or highly tailored drugs. Plus, the strictly controlled conditions of clinical trials do not necessarily reflect real-world settings, where patients may take other medications or have other conditions.
Increasingly, regulators and other decision-makers rely on real-world evidence - data collected outside of controlled research settings, including from electronic health records and health care databases - to make decisions. RWE reflects actual clinical practice and provides more information about the safety and effectiveness of medications and health care technologies to help policymakers make decisions, for example, approving or including a drug in a public insurance plan.
"As the RWE research ecosystem becomes more internationally competitive, we want to put Canada on the global map and have an independent centre where interested parties can exchange information, build capacity, share the best science, and enable the research that will advance and improve access to innovative therapies for a range of diseases and health conditions."
As the demand for RWE grows, T-RWE aims to fill the current knowledge and capacity gaps in the research landscape. Members will work toward the mission of advancing RWE methodology, fostering open and responsible data use, and training the next generation of researchers and policy partners to provide robust evidence to inform decision-making and, ultimately, health outcomes. Establishing the T-RWE also presents an exciting opportunity to grow jobs in an industry estimated by Fortune Business Insights to be over $30 billion by 2030.
Proximity to top research hospitals and strengths in drug development, public policy, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning, along with recognized leaders in RWE, make the University of Toronto and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy ideal settings for this new centre.
"Having the T-RWE based at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and U of T means that we can leverage our strengths, expertise, and partnerships to bridge public and private sectors to share insights and accelerate the impact of RWE," says Lisa Dolovich, professor and dean, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. "This centre will position the University of Toronto, Ontario, and Canada as global leaders in RWE."
Researchers, trainees, policymakers, and members of the public who use or are interested in RWE can join the T-RWE at no cost. The T-RWE will offer in-person events, speaker series, tools and resources, networking opportunities and learning opportunities to grow the community and advance the field.
Tadrous says that the centre's leadership is dedicated to growing and learning more about what researchers in RWE need to build capacity, and he encourages anyone who is interested to join the centre and reach out.
"We're looking forward to connecting the leaders, researchers and knowledge users in this space, building momentum, and sharing best practices so we can move the entire ecosystem forward," says Tadrous. "When we make these connections, this centre will be a node for exciting collaborations that can happen within Ontario, within Canada, and across the world."
