Accountable Clinical Trials
Publication bias is a major obstacle to scientific progress. Without a full view of clinical trial results, both positive and negative, the scientific community ends up drawing incorrect conclusions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched clinicaltrials.gov to address this issue by:- requiring trial preregistration
- requiring trials to publicly report results
The Results
Unfortunately, universities and pharma companies frequently report results late or not at all. Let's see who is making a strong effort, and who needs to improve.Organization | Regulated Trials | Results on time (%) | Results late (%) | Results unreported (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novartis | 336 | 12 % ( 40 ) | 79 % ( 267 ) | 9 % ( 30 ) |
| National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC) | 252 | 22 % ( 55 ) | 71 % ( 180 ) | 8 % ( 21 ) |
| M.D. Anderson Cancer Center | 249 | 20 % ( 51 ) | 70 % ( 175 ) | 10 % ( 24 ) |
| Pfizer | 187 | 16 % ( 29 ) | 82 % ( 153 ) | 5 % ( 10 ) |
| Wake Forest University Health Sciences | 177 | 10 % ( 17 ) | 69 % ( 122 ) | 23 % ( 40 ) |
| Gilead Sciences | 166 | 13 % ( 21 ) | 87 % ( 144 ) | 1 % ( 2 ) |
| University of California, San Francisco | 156 | 12 % ( 19 ) | 71 % ( 111 ) | 17 % ( 27 ) |
| Stanford University | 154 | 10 % ( 16 ) | 77 % ( 118 ) | 14 % ( 22 ) |
| Hoffmann-La Roche | 151 | 11 % ( 17 ) | 79 % ( 120 ) | 9 % ( 14 ) |
| Mayo Clinic | 151 | 39 % ( 59 ) | 46 % ( 70 ) | 15 % ( 23 ) |
| Sanofi | 141 | 11 % ( 16 ) | 82 % ( 115 ) | 9 % ( 13 ) |
| Duke University | 139 | 18 % ( 25 ) | 60 % ( 84 ) | 22 % ( 31 ) |
| Eli Lilly and Company | 135 | 10 % ( 13 ) | 85 % ( 115 ) | 5 % ( 7 ) |
| AbbVie | 134 | 14 % ( 19 ) | 74 % ( 99 ) | 12 % ( 16 ) |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | 134 | 6 % ( 8 ) | 84 % ( 113 ) | 10 % ( 13 ) |
| Massachusetts General Hospital | 131 | 7 % ( 9 ) | 59 % ( 77 ) | 36 % ( 47 ) |
| Takeda | 126 | 20 % ( 25 ) | 76 % ( 96 ) | 5 % ( 6 ) |
| GlaxoSmithKline | 122 | 29 % ( 35 ) | 68 % ( 83 ) | 6 % ( 7 ) |
| NYU Langone Health | 119 | 9 % ( 11 ) | 77 % ( 92 ) | 14 % ( 17 ) |
| Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC | 115 | 22 % ( 25 ) | 76 % ( 87 ) | 3 % ( 4 ) |
| AstraZeneca | 111 | 12 % ( 13 ) | 76 % ( 84 ) | 14 % ( 16 ) |
| Emory University | 106 | 5 % ( 5 ) | 81 % ( 86 ) | 14 % ( 15 ) |
| Janssen Research & Development, LLC | 106 | 5 % ( 5 ) | 76 % ( 81 ) | 19 % ( 20 ) |
| Bayer | 101 | 5 % ( 5 ) | 86 % ( 87 ) | 10 % ( 10 ) |
| Washington University School of Medicine | 97 | 15 % ( 15 ) | 70 % ( 68 ) | 15 % ( 15 ) |
| Columbia University | 94 | 6 % ( 6 ) | 57 % ( 54 ) | 37 % ( 35 ) |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | 83 | 14 % ( 12 ) | 63 % ( 52 ) | 24 % ( 20 ) |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | 81 | 7 % ( 6 ) | 72 % ( 58 ) | 21 % ( 17 ) |
| University of Pittsburgh | 79 | 18 % ( 14 ) | 56 % ( 44 ) | 28 % ( 22 ) |
| National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) | 76 | 8 % ( 6 ) | 80 % ( 61 ) | 12 % ( 9 ) |
| Novo Nordisk A/S | 76 | 4 % ( 3 ) | 76 % ( 58 ) | 20 % ( 15 ) |
| VA Office of Research and Development | 75 | 12 % ( 9 ) | 84 % ( 63 ) | 4 % ( 3 ) |
| Allergan | 74 | 3 % ( 2 ) | 84 % ( 62 ) | 14 % ( 10 ) |
| The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston | 74 | 3 % ( 2 ) | 81 % ( 60 ) | 16 % ( 12 ) |
| University of Washington | 72 | 3 % ( 2 ) | 82 % ( 59 ) | 15 % ( 11 ) |
| National Cancer Institute (NCI) | 70 | 14 % ( 10 ) | 87 % ( 61 ) | 20 % ( 14 ) |
| Montefiore Medical Center | 68 | 12 % ( 8 ) | 56 % ( 38 ) | 32 % ( 22 ) |
| University of Florida | 65 | 14 % ( 9 ) | 68 % ( 44 ) | 18 % ( 12 ) |
| University of Wisconsin, Madison | 65 | 17 % ( 11 ) | 78 % ( 51 ) | 12 % ( 8 ) |
| Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | 64 | 27 % ( 17 ) | 59 % ( 38 ) | 14 % ( 9 ) |
| Astellas Pharma Inc | 61 | 7 % ( 4 ) | 82 % ( 50 ) | 13 % ( 8 ) |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | 60 | 3 % ( 2 ) | 85 % ( 51 ) | 13 % ( 8 ) |
| University of Colorado, Denver | 60 | 8 % ( 5 ) | 57 % ( 34 ) | 35 % ( 21 ) |
| University of Iowa | 58 | 5 % ( 3 ) | 74 % ( 43 ) | 21 % ( 12 ) |
| University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | 58 | 59 % ( 34 ) | 29 % ( 17 ) | 12 % ( 7 ) |
| Amgen | 57 | 35 % ( 20 ) | 51 % ( 29 ) | 14 % ( 8 ) |
| Indiana University | 57 | 12 % ( 7 ) | 65 % ( 37 ) | 25 % ( 14 ) |
| Johns Hopkins University | 57 | 37 % ( 21 ) | 58 % ( 33 ) | 7 % ( 4 ) |
| University of Michigan | 57 | 12 % ( 7 ) | 84 % ( 48 ) | 4 % ( 2 ) |
| Weill Medical College of Cornell University | 57 | 40 % ( 23 ) | 49 % ( 28 ) | 12 % ( 7 ) |