International Clinical Trials Day

Today is International Clinical Trials Day – a day to recognise the importance of good clinical trials for public health. We asked our CEO, Professor Sir Martin Landray, about his experience with clinical trials and what they mean to him.

What do clinical trials mean to you?

“Clinical Trials are essential for discovering which treatments really work over those that we hope work. Large, randomized clinical trials drive improvement in public health, and in the way I treat my patients.”

What is your first memory of clinical trials?

“I first became aware of clinical trials in the 1980s with the ISIS-1 trial for acute heart attack which completely transformed the care of people who suffered heart attacks at the time and has done so ever since. My most memorable trial was the RECOVERY trial which found that dexamethasone could be used to treat patients with COVID-19. When we discovered that dexamethasone worked, we knew it would have a substantial effect on human health and the patients who were suffering the most from COVID-19. 

What do the future of clinical trials look like to you?

“I hope we can drive the new norm in the design and delivery of clinical trials – transforming the way they are run so that we have more efficient ways to get better evidence on which treatments work and which don’t, particularly for common disease.”