New clinical trial rules boost patient benefit in Europe

The European Parliament has today (Thursday) approved a new set of rules governing clinical trials that will help our understanding of disease, improve treatments for patients and make Europe a more attractive place to conduct research and development.

“Today marks a big step forward for both research and patients. The new Clinical Trials Regulation strikes a crucial balance between making it easier to conduct clinical trials and ensuring patient safety.” – Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK

The new regulation will:

• Streamline and speed up how clinical trials are run in Europe
• Reduce the cost of trials for charities and academic institutions
• Introduce a new approval system that co-ordinates how trials are run across EU states allowing more countries to take part in large research studies

The new Clinical Trials Regulation* is designed to ensure patient safety and the ethical conduct of research. It simplifies the clinical trial process, which will make Europe a more attractive place for global companies to conduct trials ultimately improving the European research environment. 

Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician at Cancer Research UK, said: “Today marks a big step forward for both research and patients. The new Clinical Trials Regulation strikes a crucial balance between making it easier to conduct clinical trials and ensuring patient safety.  We look forward to seeing real benefits brought to patients across Europe.”

Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said: “The Clinical Trials Regulation should significantly improve the environment for clinical trials in the EU and remove barriers to facilitate trials by academic researchers. Effective implementation will be key to realise the potential benefits to patients.”

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact the Cancer Research UK press office on 020 3469 8300 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059.