European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network
The ECRIN Consortium is a European not-for-profit platform for the support of trans-European clinical research projects. ECRIN is not directed towards a specific speciality or disease category, but will foster transfer of best research practice from speciality to speciality all over Europe. Its aims include the development of an infrastructure for clinical research that allows for the bottom-up harmonisation of support, training, ethical issues, SOPs, data management, quality control procedures, adaptation to national legislation and Good Clinical Practice along with communication with investigators, patients, and citizens.
ECRIN currently includes 12 networks of clinical research centres (CRC) and clinical trial units (CTU), acting in any medical field. These networks cover 9 EU countries representing 350 million citizens. Therefore they reach the critical mass both at their country level and at the EU level. No equivalent infrastructure exists in Europe. In addition, the Canadian participant (UBC-GEREC) extends the capacity of ECRIN to perform clinical studies on the North American continent, using data management tools compatible with FDA requirements.
Closely associated with scientific associations and investigators, interacting with disease-specific networks of practitioners, these centres have the capacity to enrol patients in a wide range of clinical studies, particularly in rare diseases, orphan drugs, paediatrics, biotherapy.
Clinical Research Centres (CRC) are non-profit, public-funded, and hospital-based infrastructures devoted to clinical research, with specific beds, equipment, medical and study-nurse staff, allowing enrolment and investigation of patients or volunteers both in the early phases of drug trials and in non-therapeutic studies.
Clinical Trial Units (CTU) manage clinical trials (mainly randomised clinical trials (phase II/phase III trials), prognostic, diagnostic studies, and meta-analyses), dealing with the design of the study, its organisation, logistics, centre selection, data management, monitoring, data analysis, and reporting.
CRCs and CTUs act as infrastructures, providing access to research projects from the clinical research community (academic or industry sponsors or investigators) after selection of projects by a scientific board. These infrastructures are competence centres providing services based on their know-how and their health-care environments (general practitioners and hospitals).
In most countries, the organisation of the national networks only appeared recently, permitting the achievement of critical mass. They are based on working groups leading to the standardisation of practice in these countries, and to the facilitation of national multicentre studies alongside the interconnection of skills and logistics. However, many of the EU member states still lack such infrastructures networks (some of them have rather developed disease-specific networks), and ECRIN is the only connection between the existing national infrastructures networks.
The European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) plays a role in working groups, providing a focus on ethics and GCP within the network. Representatives from the Industry, regulators, patients, and academic research participate in the EFGCP working parties (on audits, on sponsorship, on paediatrics, on ethics, on education) who will contribute to ECRIN activities.
The ECRIN Network
| Austria | Medical University of Vienna |
| Denmark | |
| Finland | |
| France | |
| Germany | Bundesministerium für Bildung and Forschung (BMBF) |
| Ireland |
Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (ICRIN) |
|
Hungary |
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| Italy |
Consorzio Italiano per la Ricerca in Medicina (CIRM) |
| Spain |
Hospital Clinic I Provincial (SCReN) |
| Sweden | University Hospital (SweCRIN) |
| Switzerland | Universitat Bern (UBERN) |
| UK |
University of Leeds (UKCRN) |
| European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) |
Associated Partners
European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP), Belgium
Europea, Belgium
Telematikplattform, Germany
Ministère de la Recherche, France
Ministère de la Santé, France
Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, Denmark
Science Foundation of Ireland
Department of Health, UK
Ministry of social affairs and health, Finland
Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung, Austria
Vinnova, Sweden
Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, Spain
Federal Science Policy Office, Belgium
TEKES, Finland
MMI Position Paper on Ireland's continued participation in European research infrastructures for biobanking and clinical research
MMI has agreed a position paper recommending that Ireland commits to full membership of the ERICS for both BBMRI and the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN). To access this paper please click here.
