May 29.  2013 note to readers: The public database is now live.  The news release can be read at the bottom of this post. 

By Pamela Fayerman

Numerous countries around the world have websites where you can search for open or completed clinical trials on pharmaceutical or biomedical treatments.  So if you’re a patient, for example, you can look for a credible trial in your geographical area to possibly enter.  Or get information about safety and effectiveness trial results of drugs you’ve been prescribed. 

There are a handful of long-established, indispensable sites I use for my research, including clinicaltrials.gov, Medline Plus and PubMed.  All of them are American, but some Canadian studies can be found in their databases since reputable scientists do register their trials with the U.S. federal government sites. 

Canada has long been an embarrassment on this front.  But finally, after about eight years of planning and consultations, the problem will be rectified as the federal government is about to launch a databasecovering what drugs are being tested on humans in this country. 

The website will include information about government-approved trials by companies or institutions sponsoring and conducting the research, some information about the medication and its indications and the criteria for patient enrolment. 

publish information on clinical trials that they authorize which means the completeness of the data is likely to be quite good.  What I like less, however, is how limited the information is going to be.” 

If you’re interested in clinical trials, click here to read a piece I wrote about phase one (first in humans) trials for which altruistic, brave – and usually very desperate or terminally ill patients – are recruited. 

OTTAWA – The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, today announced the launch of the Government of Canada’s new public database of Health Canada-authorized drug clinical trials involving patients, as well as the completion of a joint project to develop new standards for research ethics boards that oversee clinical trials. 

Health Canada is also publishing guidance on the inclusion of women in clinical trials, a new It’s Your Health educational piece for patients considering participating in trials, and providing updated general guidance for clinical trial sponsors. 

“Canadians want to be active participants in their health care, and choosing to participate in a clinical trial can be an important decision,” said Minister Aglukkaq. “ These initiatives will help Canadians to find and understand information about drug clinical trials so that they can decide whether participating in a trial is the right choice for them and their families.” 

Patients, healthcare professionals and the public will now be able to find information on Health Canada’s website about drug clinical trials involving patients and to verify whether a drug trial has received regulatory authorization in Canada.  The database is mandatory for industry – it will be maintained and updated by Health Canada to include information about all phase I, II, and III clinical trials in patients that it has reviewed and authorized since April 1, 2013.  Providing access to a central database of clinical trials is an initial step that will help fill an existing information gap as the government works to further increase transparency around clinical trials. 

To further enhance research ethic review processes and increase the protection of clinical trial participants, in 2006, Health Canada commissioned the

Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) to manage the process of creating a new voluntary standard for Research Ethics Boards.  This work is now complete and CGSB will make the new standard, entitled the Research Ethics Oversight of Biomedical Clinical Trials, available to users by the end of May. Research ethics boards help ensure that research meets the highest ethical standards, and that the greatest protection is provided to participants who serve as research subjects

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