6th National Clinical Trials Day in the Czech Republic

31 May 2023, Kaiserštejn Palace in Prague

This year’s 6th National Clinical Trials Day commemorates the anniversary of the first clinical trial conducted by Dr. James Lind in May 1747. The aim of the conference was to take an in-depth look at the clinical trial process in the Czech Republic and respond to the current need to improve the Czech Republic’s readiness and competitiveness in the field of clinical trials on a global scale.

Topics
The conference was thematically divided into two blocks: Clinical trials in the Czech Republic at present and in the future and Healthcare institutions as the main actors in the implementation of clinical trials. The speakers and panellists discussed the topics raised from different perspectives of clinical trial stakeholders – sponsors, healthcare institutions, regulatory authorities of the State Institute for Drug Control and medical practitioners who conduct clinical trials.

Innovative treatment
The opening speech was presented by the Deputy Minister of Health Radek Policar. He highlighted the benefits of clinical trials in innovative treatment of patients from the perspective of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. With regard to the questions of the conference participants, he confirmed the real chance for the creation of a platform coordinated by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, whose members will be active in the field of clinical trials. This platform will address the challenges in this area.

Positive response
There was a discussion of topics such as digitalization in health care, conducting clinical trials, systematic training of study coordinators and the formation of a national strategy for conducting clinical trials, which was outlined by Jakub Dvořáček from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.

Importance of education and qualified staff
Lukáš Levák, Director of the Research and Development Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports commented on the importance of supporting clinical trials through the CZECRIN infrastructure. The necessity of qualified support staff in hospitals and specialized medical facilities was outlined by Marek Svoboda, Director of the Masaryk Cancer Institute.

Acknowledgment
“I thank the governing institutions for their support and I express my gratitude to the regulatory authorities for their feedback and willingness to address the issues of developing the conduct of clinical trials. Together we have come a long way in this field. We want to further develop the mentioned topics in a more concrete way and also involve insurers, i.e. representatives of insurance companies, in the discussion,” summarised Regina Demlová, Head of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of the Masaryk University and Principal Investigator of the CZECRIN infrastructure.

Organization
The conference was traditionally held on the occasion of the International Clinical Trials Day, this time under the auspices of Senator Roman Kraus, MBA. The event was organized by the CZECRIN research infrastructure with the expert cooperation of the PharmAround Foundation and partners AIFP and ACRO-CZ.