Early stages clinical trials growing steadily in Spain, already making up 51% of the total

Early clinical trials, which require a greater degree of complexity in research and allow patients to access new therapies early, have registered a sustained growth in Spain in the last decade thanks to the high scientific level of the professionals in the Spanish National Health System and the pharmaceutical industry’s commitment to R&D established in the country, among other factors.

In particular, clinical trials in the early stages now account for 51.4% of the total, compared to 47.5% for the period 2010-2014 and 41.5% for 2004-2009, according to the latest data from the BEST Project for Excellence in Clinical Research, presented today in Madrid at the 10th Annual Conference of Technological Platforms of Biomedical Research: Innovative Medicines, Nanomedicine, Medical Technology and Biotechnology Markets.

This data reflects the consolidation of the increase in clinical research in the early stages, a trend that has seen an important boost with the new Royal Decree of Clinical Trials that came into force in 2016, which has created a much more favorable environment for the R&D of new medicines. In fact, according to data presented at the 10th Biomedical Research Platforms Conference by Javier Urzay, deputy director general of pharma trade group Farmaindustria and co-president of the Spanish Technological Platform for Innovative Medicines, in the first year in which the Royal Decree has been in force, the period in which to start a clinical trial in Spain has been reduced by 15 %, up to 131 days. The trend is thus maintained for the first set of data, obtained at six months, reflecting a reduction of 19% in the period when starting a clinical trial.