Clinical tests are essential to medical breakthroughs, as they enable the safety and efficacy of new treatments or diagnostic techniques for human diseases to be assessed. The Vall d'Hebron Campus, which includes the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), is positioning itself as a world benchmark in this field, setting new record figures year after year.
During 2023, 193 new clinical trials were registered at the VHIR, with a total of 721 active trials, surpassing the record figure of 700 ongoing trials for the first time. This diversity of trials, which cover the entire range of clinical phases, from the initial phase to post-marketing, demonstrates the multidisciplinary and wide-ranging nature of research at the VHIR. Specifically, there were 41 phase I, 244 phase II, 370 phase III and 70 phase IV trials.

With the focus always on patients' needs, notable among the VHIR's clinical trials are those approaching the field of minority diseases: specifically, a total of 208 trials on these types of infrequent disease. This dedication underlines the interest in finding new, innovative and specific treatments for populations that have often been under-researched. Also noteworthy is the paediatric area, with 182 ongoing trials among the paediatric population, representing 25% of the clinical trials currently in progress.

In total, 834 patients were included in the trials during 2023. The participation of patients and healthy volunteers is essential to advance clinical research while providing patients with innovative diagnostics and therapies that can change people's quality of life.

New drugs and changes in therapeutic strategies

Over the last year, we have reported the results of several clinical trials in which we have participated, serving to prove the effectiveness of new therapies. For example, in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, we confirmed that a new therapeutic strategy, based on subcutaneous administration of levodopa, improves control of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease.

Since 2010, the VHIR has participated in Phase III trials for over 20% of new drugs reaching the market. This includes a number of recent good examples with approval from the US regulatory agencies of pharmaceuticals for diseases that until now had no specific pharmacological treatment, such as advanced fatty liver disease and postpartum depression. Furthermore, an international phase III clinical trial led by Vall d'Hebron demonstrated the efficacy of atogepant, an oral drug to prevent chronic migraine, which will now be marketed in Spain.

It is worth noting that clinical trials are not only useful for developing new therapies, but also for improving existing protocols. This is the case of a study that demonstrated the effectiveness of a shorter treatment regimen for Chagas disease. In the field of paediatric cancer, the BEACON study confirmed that combining different chemotherapy drugs improves patient survival.