A clinical research institution is any center that conducts clinical studies.
Spain is a reference country for performing clinical trials. In fact, there is a slight upward trend in the number of clinical trials conducted in Spain. In 2018, the AEMPS (Spanish Agency for Medicine and Health Products) authorized 800 clinical studies of medicines for human use1. The 2019 AEMPS data are not known, as the official numbers have not been made public yet. Despite this, 828 clinical investigations were registered in the REec (Spanish Register of Clinical Studies) database in 2019. REec contains the information of all clinical trials with drugs that are authorized in Spain. According to REec data, the number of clinical trials in Spain in 2019 was 3.5% higher than in 2018.
As of today, June 17, 2020, there are 494 clinical studies registered in REec, more than half of those conducted in 2019. These data seem to confirm how the number of clinical trials carried out in Spain is increasing every year.
Furthermore, according to information published in the ClinicalTrials.gov2 database, Spain is the fourth country in Europe in terms of the number of clinical trials carried out, preceded by France in the first place, Germany in second and the United Kingdom in third.
Spain has numerous clinical research institutions. In 2013, the Spanish Clinical Research Network (SCReN) was created. SCReN is a platform that brings together 31 research and clinical trial units. SCReN aims to support clinical research, and its main objective is to achieve advanced technical competence in the development and management of clinical research.
As well as the 31 clinical research institutions, there are many other clinical research centers in Spain that are not registered in the SCReN network. Some of them are centers that not only conduct clinical studies but also combine it with basic research.
In this article, we provide a list of the most relevant Spanish Clinical Research Institutions.
The 31 research units belonging to SCReN that are distributed in 13 Autonomous Communities are3:
Andalucía:
- Reina Sofia University Hospital
- Carlos Haya Hospital
- Virgen de la Victoria Hospital
- Virgen del Rocío Hospital
- Virgen de las Nieves Hospital
Aragón:
- Lozano Blesa University Hospital
Canarias:
- Canarias University Hospital
Cantabria:
- Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital
Castilla y León:
- Clinical Hospital of Salamanca
Cataluña:
- Santa Creu I Sant Pau Hospital
- Germans Trias I Pujol University Hospital
- Clinical Health Corporation of Barcelona
- Bellvitge University Hospital
- Vall D’ Hebron University Hospital
- Idiap Jordi Gol
Comunidad Valenciana:
- University Clinical Hospital of Valencia
- La Fe Hospital Institute of Health Research
Extremadura:
- Infanta Cristina Hospital
Galicia:
- A Coruña University Hospital
- Santiago de Compostela University Hospital Complex
Madrid:
- Jiménez Díaz Foundation
- University Clinical Hospital San Carlos
- 12 de Octubre University Hospital
- La Princesa University Hospital
- Gregorio Marañón University Hospital
- La Paz University Hospital
- Puerta de Hierro University Hospital
- Ramón y Cajal University Hospital
Murcia:
- University Clinical Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca
Navarra:
- Navarra Clinical University
País Vasco:
- Donostia Hospital
- Cruces University Hospital
Some of the most important clinical research institutions not associated with SCReN are:
Carlos III National Cardiovascular Research Center (CNIC):
The CNIC is focused on Basic Research and Clinical Research, in 3 different areas: Vascular Pathophysiology, Myocardial Pathophysiology, and Cell Developmental Biology.
National Center for Oncological Research (CNIO):
The CNIO has basic research focused on Molecular Oncology and Structural Biology, patient-oriented translational research in Human Cancer Genetics and Clinical Research, and innovation focused on Biotechnology and Experimental Therapeutics.
“Alberto Sols” Biomedical Research Institute:
This Institute has three primary Research Areas: Pathophysiology, Metabolism and Cell Signaling, and Cancer Biology. Some of their groups participate in clinical trials.
Vall D’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO):
This Institute is focused on Oncological Research. Its activity is structured as Preclinical, Translational, Clinical Research, and Core Technologies.
References
1- Report on the activities of the AEMPS in 2018 Available here: https://www.aemps.gob.es/laAEMPS/memoria/docs/memoria-2018.pdf?x57200
2 – Map by regions of all studies on ClinicalTrials.gov Available here: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/search/map/click?map.x=962&map.y=336&mapw=1879
3 – SCReN unit contacts. Available here: https://sway.office.com/nzZoiysm6nBmvHXr?ref=Link