Science and Technology Select Committee Chair Uses EU TrialsTracker Data in Letters to UK Universities

Yesterday, we shared an overview of trial reporting performance for all UK Universities on our EU TrialsTracker and FDAAA TrialsTracker. Today, we are pleased to see this data being put to good use.

Following-up on the October 2018 report on clinical trials transparency, the chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Norman Lamb MP, has sent letters to 41 universities with trials registered on the EU Clinical Trials Register (EUCTR).

The letter reminds each institution of their trial reporting responsibilities under EU and US law. It gives them their current reporting performance, taking current figures directly from our EU TrialsTracker (BMJ paper here). It asks each university to verify that systems are in place to ensure compliance with these requirements, and opens the possibility that continued poor performance could lead to being called in front of the committee in the near future.

We designed our TrialsTracker project to help universities get all their trials reported, and compliant with the rules. By automating the process of checking legal compliance, we are able to publicly provide sponsors with constantly updating, current performance data.

So we are delighted to say that every letter from the Select Committee to every university also contains a link to that institution’s own trial reporting dashboard on our EU.trialstracker.net site, where they can monitor progress.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about our work, please get in touch. We are also happy to provide help and additional information to any trial sponsors hoping to improve their trial reporting performance. You can reach us at bennett@phc.ox.ac.uk.

An image of the press release from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee announcing these letters is below, with an example of the letter that they are sending to universities.