UK First to Release Detailed Data on Clinical Trial Registration Failures

Key Insights

• The UK's Health Research Authority (HRA) has published detailed registration data for 1,545 clinical trials, a pioneering move for transparency.
• The data includes trial names, sponsors, and registration numbers, offering unprecedented insight into registration compliance.
• In 2022, 92% of trials were registered, showing improvement, with most sponsors informing the HRA of registration.

The United Kingdom has become the first country to release comprehensive data identifying institutions that have failed to register their clinical trials, a move praised by transparency advocates.

Last week, the Health Research Authority (HRA) posted complete registration information for 1,545 trials. This information includes the name of the study, the sponsor, and the trial's registration number. Previously, the agency only provided annual summaries showing the proportion of trials registered, without publishing trial-by-trial registration specifics.

The 2022 data revealed that 92% of trials had been registered, an increase from previous years, indicating improved compliance. For almost all registered clinical trials, the sponsor had informed the HRA of its registration. Notably, two-thirds of the trials were registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. database.