The map is designed to provide patients and healthcare professionals with easy access to comprehensive, real-time information about clinical trials conducted in their area, increasing access to clinical research in the European Union (EU).

The service is a long-awaited complement to the Swedish initiative HiKS that Lif has developed to make ongoing drug trials in Sweden more visible, Lif states.

Frida Lundmark

“This is a welcome initiative that can increase both the visibility of clinical trials and patients’ opportunities to participate in them,” says Lif’s clinical trials expert Frida Lundmark. “Transparent and patient-friendly information about which trials are ongoing strengthens both trust in medical research and the availability of new treatments.”

Easier to find clinical trials across the EU

Building on the public information contained in CTIS, the map improves how people use the system and find information about clinical trials. Users can look for ongoing trials by geographic area and medical condition. The search supports queries in lay language and includes an autocorrect system that provides suggestions in case of misspellings. Search results offer investigator’s contact details, enabling members of the public to directly enquire about potential enrollment into a given trial.

The creation of the map is an action of the Accelerating Clinical Trials in the European Union (ACT EU) initiative workplan for 2025-2026. CTIS includes a public searchable database for healthcare professionals, patients and citizens to deliver the high level of transparency foreseen by the Clinical Trials Regulation. The authorisation and oversight of clinical trials is the responsibility of EU/EEA Member States while EMA is responsible for maintaining CTIS. The European Commission oversees the implementation of the Clinical Trials Regulation.