UK to start automatic registration of clinical trials

Regulator partners with trial registry to boost transparency and save time for researchers

The UK’s Health Research Authority has said it will automatically register clinical trials from next year in a bid to make research more transparent.

Under the current system, researchers are required to register trials with a registry recognised by the World Health Organisation before the first participant is recruited to a study. A 2019 audit by the authority found that more than 10 per cent fail to do so.