Information about clinical trials recruiting subjects is now consolidated on one website

Both patient associations and organisers of clinical trials have called for consolidating information about clinical trials recruiting subjects on one website.

Fimea has taken it upon itself to provide this service, and this information is now available to all on Fimea’s website. With the new website, Fimea wants to increase awareness of ongoing clinical trials and, consequently, help patients find clinical trials they might be eligible for. Another goal is to further improve Finland’s reputation as a country with high clinical trial standards.

Working together with patient associations before collecting the information

Fimea worked together with patient associations to determine what information should be made available on the website before sending a questionnaire to the contact persons of clinical trials in November and December 2023. Completing the questionnaire and providing information on the website is voluntary, allowing the investigators to decide if they want to publish information on the website based on the phase of the clinical trial, for instance. Some of the investigators who completed the questionnaire have been asked to provide missing information, which is why information about some clinical trials is not yet available on the website. This information will be added to the website once the answers to the additional questions have been received.

Information about clinical trials is divided into therapeutic areas

Clinical trials are divided into groups based on the therapeutic area to make it easier for users to find the relevant clinical trials. Each therapeutic area has a heading (such as cancer) followed by more specific subheadings (such as breast cancer).

Drop-down menus provide a list of different clinical trials and more information about them. The website has the contact details of the trial sites so that they can be contacted for more information. The eligibility of potential subjects can only by determined by the trial staff at the trial site. Information for professionals can be accessed through the link at the bottom of the text, which takes to a database of clinical trials pursuant to either the EU Regulation or Directive.

Details of clinical trials are updated once a month

Going forward, Fimea will update the website once a month based on information provided to it. New clinical trials that are about to begin are added to the website when the investigator has submitted the requested information. At the same time, any changes are implemented to the clinical trials on the website and clinical trials that are no longer recruiting new subjects are removed. Due to this, there might sometimes be a slight delay before the information on the website is updated.

Read more

Clinical trials open to recruitment (in Finnish)