Australia to establish a national clinical trials register

For the first time, medical researchers, doctors and the general public will have information about clinical trials happening across the country in all areas of health, with the announcement of a national on-line register of all types of clinical trials.

Trials entered on the Register will range from those researching new drugs and treatments to new and/or improved surgical procedures and medical devices. The Australian Government is spending $1.5 million through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to establish the Register.

Professor John Simes from the Clinical Trials Centre in Sydney will work with the NHMRC to begin developing this national register in the coming months. The register will be developed over the next three years and will be fully operational in 2008.

“In future, people interested in participating in a clinical trial, or doctors investigating relevant trials for their patients, will have access to a reputable and comprehensive on-line register. It will mean that GPs and other health professionals can investigate the evidence behind new treatments; therapies or drugs arising from a trial listed on the Register,” Mr Abbott said.

Australia is to be part of a worldwide push to ensure that information on trials is publicly available. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, which includes among many others, the Medical Journal of Australia, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine have said that from 1 July 2005 they will not publish the results of any clinical trials not included on an authorised register.

The Register will also help researchers identify gaps in their own research or prevent unnecessary duplication of clinical trials and provide researchers with new insights by having access to information about trials underway across Australia .

It's estimated that there are about 2000 clinical trials currently underway. More than 90 clinical trials worth $55 million are being funded by the NHMRC.

Further information: http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/research/general/clincreg.htm