This is such an important and often overlooked question when developing novel drugs. Just because a treatment works in a controlled clinical trial doesn’t mean it will be effective in real-world settings.

In daily life, people are busy and juggling responsibilities—asking them to take a pill every hour is almost guaranteed to lead to missed doses.

The same applies to healthcare systems. If a treatment regimen is too complex, it may not integrate seamlessly into hospital workflows, limiting its practical use.

Addressing these real-world challenges is critical to ensuring new therapies truly make an impact.

We need much more thinking backwards - from patients and healthcare workers - already in development.