Majority Of Clinical Trials Planned In 2018 Belong To Oncology, Says GlobalData

Cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality across the world. Not surprisingly, oncology is going to be the top therapy areafor clinical trials planned to be initiated in 2018, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s Clinical Trials Intelligence provides an early analysis of the data of clinical trials for initiation in 2018. Out of all clinical trials across all diseases and phases that are planned to be initiated in 2018, phase II trials account for 44%, followed by phase I and phase III trials at 26% and 21%, respectively. Phase IV trials make up the smallest share (8%).

Revati Tatake, PhD, Global Director of Databases and Analytics at GlobalData, says: “Based on the trials reviewed, approximately two-thirds of trials are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies while the remaining trials are sponsored by academic institutions and non-industry sponsors.

“The dominance of industry sponsorship is most prominent in phase I, II and III trials, whereas non-industry sponsorship is most prominent in phase IV trials.” With respect to the distribution of clinical trials based on indications, solid tumor topped the list for industry sponsored trials and pain emerged as the top indication among non-industry sponsored trials.

Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline are the top two industry sponsors, whereas the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center leads the way with its dominance among non-industry sponsors. Among all clinical trials regardless of the sponsor type, immune-oncology drugs hold the top spots, with the largest number of clinical trials planned for pembrolizumab, and nivolumab taking second place.

Among the trial sites, North America is the top location, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. When combined, the three regions account for more than 90% of all the trial locations. Within North America, the most trial sites are in the US, which has a clear dominance in the number of trials over the remaining top countries.

The analysis of phase-wise distribution of trials based on whether they are planned to be conducted in a single country or multiple countries reveals that the trials in all phases are predominantly single country trials, among which Phase II trials are most common.

Tatake emphasizes: “It is important to note that the data for this report were extracted from the Clinical Database of the Pharma Intelligence Center on 20 December 2017. Because of the dynamic nature of the clinical trials activity, the trials reviewed in this report as ’Planned‘ will no longer remain as planned trials when they start recruiting participants. In addition, more trials that start in 2018 will be added to the database as they are reported in the public domain throughout the year. Thus, this report provides an early preview of the clinical trial activity that will be seen in 2018.”

About GlobalData’s Clinical Trials Database
The Clinical Trials Database is a comprehensive source of accurate and detailed intelligence on global Clinical Trials, covering a wide range of Therapy Areas and Indications, including Rare Diseases. The intelligence on Clinical Trials in different phases conducted globally is compiled by experienced analysts and data are cross-checked with multiple sources, such as trial registries, conferences, associations, publications, company websites, SEC filings, regulatory websites and many more. GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Clinical Trials Team focuses on ensuring that the clinical trial records in the database are accurate and comprehensive. The team strives to ensure that the most up-to-date information on clinical trials is available to clients through the Pharma Intelligence Center.

About GlobalData
4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors.