On the 29th of May, the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice organised a multi-stakeholder workshop on “Communicating Clinical Trial Results to Meet Public Needs – A Meaningful Future for Lay Summaries”. EFA was represented by Senior EU Policy Advisor Roberta Savli. During the event, organised in collaboration with patients’ groups, research institutes and pharmaceutical industry, the provisions on lay summaries of the new clinical trials regulation adopted by the European legislation makers in 2014 were discussed.
Patients’ involvement was presented as the solution at every stage of the clinical research process. Patients can help researchers to identify unmet needs and draft clinical trials’ summary that are understandable by lay people as they know better than others what is needed and the way this should be said.
EFA has advocated for more transparent requirements that could result in increased patients' empowerment, better research developments and enhanced trust of the general public in medical research.