Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34414286›Full record

ArticleEuropean stroke journal2021

Regulatory delays in a multinational clinical stroke trial.

Jeroen C de Jonge, Hendrik Reinink, Bridget Colam, Iris Alpers, Alfonso Ciccone, Laszlo Csiba, Janika Kõrv, Iwona Kurkowska-Jastrzebska, Malcolm R Macleod, George Ntaios and 3 more

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European stroke journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Responses to Commentaries on "Ethics as if Your Life Depended on It".Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · 2026
    Article
  2. Clinical research in private hospitals: a perspective.Journal of translational medicine · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 9 institutions in 8 countries.

Jeroen C de JongeDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0025-8760
Hendrik ReininkDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Bridget ColamCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Iris AlpersClinical Trial Center North GmbH, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Alfonso CicconeDepartment of Neurology and Stroke Unit, ASST di Mantova, Mantua, Italy.
Laszlo CsibaDepartment of Neurology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
Janika KõrvDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6074-0727
Iwona Kurkowska-Jastrzebska2nd Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
Malcolm R MacleodCentre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
George NtaiosDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
Götz ThomallaDepartment of Neurology, Center for Clinical Neurosciences, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Philip M BathStroke Trials Unit, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
H Bart van der WorpDepartment of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Utrecht University · NLMRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine · GBUniversität Hamburg · DEAzienda Ospedaliera Carlo Poma · ITInstitute of Psychiatry and Neurology · PLTartu University Hospital · EEUniversity of Debrecen · HUUniversity of Nottingham · GBUniversity of Thessaly · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe initiation and conduct of randomised clinical trials are complicated by multiple barriers, including delays in obtaining regulatory approvals. Quantitative data on the extent of the delays due to national or local review in randomised clinical trials is scarce. MATERIALS AND

methodsWe assessed the times needed to obtain regulatory approval and to initiate a trial site for an academic, EU-funded, phase III, randomised clinical trial of pharmacological prevention of complications in patients with acute stroke in over 80 sites in nine European countries. The primary outcome was the time from the first submission to a regulatory authority to initiation of a trial site. Secondary outcomes included time needed to complete each individual preparatory requirement and the number of patients recruited by each site in the first 6 and 12 months.

resultsThe median time from the first submission to a regulatory authority to initiation of a trial site was 784 days (IQR: 586-1102). The single most time-consuming step was the conclusion of a clinical trial agreement between the national coordinator and the trial site, which took a median of 194 days (IQR: 93-293). A longer time to site initiation was associated with a lower patient recruitment rate in the first six months after initiation (B = -0.002; DISCUSSION:

conclusionIn this EU-funded clinical trial, approximately 26 months were needed to initiate a trial site for patient recruitment. The conclusion of a contract with a trial site was the most time-consuming activity. To simplify and speed up the process, we suggest that the level of detail of contracts for academic trials should be proportional to the risks and commercial interests of these trials.

Indexed as

randomised clinical trialregulatory approvalStroke

Identifiers

PMID34414286
PMCPMC8370076
OpenAlexW3151208657

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.