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Clinical Trials Involving Drugs and Medical Devices

Here you will find advice on conducting researcher-initiated clinical trials where the intervention involves drugs, both with and without marketing authorisation, or clinical testing of medical devices.

For clinical trials conducted at Oslo University Hospital (OUS) involving medications, or with the intention of CE-marking a medical device, the national quality documents for drug testing and medical devices developed by NorCRIN apply. The documents cover regulatory requirements for the planning, conduct and completion phases of a clinical trial.

Much of the information on these pages will refer directly to NorCRIN's procedures (some documents are in Norwegian). The procedures describe submission and reporting obligations towards the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK) and the Norwegian Medical Products Agency (DMP). Testing of medical devices follows approximately the same procedure as drug testing and will not be described separately here, but keep in mind that there are separate quality documents for medical device trials.

Use of the quality documents is described in a flow chart which shows which procedures must be followed at different stages of the trial.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) must be followed. Checklists, templates and other attachments can be adapted to the individual trial as long as the purpose of the documents is maintained.

For OUS, the eHåndboken (OUS’ electronic manual) document describing Roles and Responsibilities in Clinical Trials applies.

NorCRIN also provides an overview of common abbreviations and terms used in their clinical research procedures (in English and Norwegian).

For clinical trials conducted on behalf of an industry partner, see Industry Sponsored Trials and Collaboration.

New Regulation (EU CTR 536/2014)

The EU has been working for some time to simplify the process of conducting clinical trials involving drugs. This is ensured through the new regulation, EU CTR 536/2014, which came into effect on 31 January 2022 and applies in the EU/EEA area.

The regulation requires that applications to the medicines authorities and ethics committees be submitted in the same application, and it allows for applications to multiple countries simultaneously. The regulation includes a dedicated portal called the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) for all communication with the authorities.

For more information, see the Directorate for Medical Products Agency (DMP).

Regional research support will be able to assist with advice for studies applying under the new regulation, as well as for ongoing studies under the "old" framework that wish to be "migrated" to CTIS.

See NorCRIN's website for relevant links.

Last updated 10/28/2024