New study shows that 89% of clinical trials run by European universities violate EU regulations

Data released today show that thousands of clinical trials conducted in Europe violate EU rules that require results to be published within 12 months. Failure to publish trial results endangers patients, contributes to exploding drug costs, and slows down the discovery of new treatments and cures.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Half of assessed clinical trials, 3,673 in total, are demonstrably in violation of EU rules

The true number of violations is likely to be far higher, as the researchers excluded 3,392 trials with incomplete registry entries

89% of trials sponsored by universities across Europe are missing results

Around a quarter of all trials have never published results anywhere, meaning that many potentially life-saving medical discoveries are in danger of being lost forever

National governments across Europe are failing to enforce compliance with regulations designed to strengthen public health and protect patients

MOST UNIVERSITIES HAVE A TERRIBLE TRACK RECORD

Universities perform far worse than drug companies.

Only 11% of university-sponsored trials have posted results.

Against this low baseline, the universities of Dundee and Oxford stand out as the best academic performers by far, with results posted for over three quarters of their trials. Over twenty major European medical research universities have not posted any results at all. The worst performer is the Charite in Berlin, which has posted not a single result for at least 63 completed trials.

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