(Vienna, 16 May 2025) Every year on 20 May, International Clinical Research Day is held to raise awareness of the role of clinical research in medicine and healthcare. MedUni Vienna and AGES are using this day to highlight the importance of clinical trials for the development of innovative therapies, the ongoing optimisation of already approved treatment methods and thus the improvement of patients' health and quality of life.
Clinical research involves testing new medical findings under real-life conditions to verify their efficacy and safety in patients. This research is crucial for developing and optimising therapies, drugs and treatment methods. MedUni Vienna is currently conducting 671 clinical trials involving 37,660 patients. Most of the trials are being conducted in the field of oncology.
"Clinical studies are the link between discoveries in the laboratory and practical application in medicine," explains Michaela Fritz, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation at the Medical University of Vienna. ’Further strengthening this link is one of the focal points of our current construction projects. With the Eric Kandel Institute – Centre for Precision Medicine and the Centre for Translational Medicine, around 20,000 square metres of state-of-the-art infrastructure are currently being created to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the hospital bed. In this way, we are making a decisive contribution to the future of medicine.’
Strengthening Austria as a location for clinical research
Progress through clinical research also requires optimal conditions at other levels. An important measure has been taken to promote domestic clinical trials with the newly introduced accelerated procedure for mononational clinical trials: "This sends a clear signal that Austria is research-friendly," says Katharina Reich, Head of the Public Health and Health System Section at the Ministry of Health and Chair of the Austrian Federal Agency for Safety in Health (BASG). "Thanks to the Austrian initiative, the procedure can be completed within 35 days in the best case scenario." The procedure is fully controllable at national level and therefore represents an important advantage for studies involving exclusively Austrian trial centres. This is particularly interesting for academic studies or national pilot projects.
There are many hurdles to overcome in the long development and research process before a therapy can be made available to patients. Sound scientific advice helps to overcome these hurdles: "As AGES Medical Market Surveillance, we are among the leaders in Europe in terms of both the number of scientific advisory procedures and the centralised authorisation procedures." Austria's expertise is valued in the scientific advice procedures of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). "AGES coordinated 182 scientific advisory procedures in 2024, putting us in second place in the EU ranking," emphasises Johannes Pleiner-Duxneuner, AGES Managing Director.