● http://controlled-trials.com/

Researchers, physicians and patients have long demanded free access to clinical trial data while studies are in progress, rather than having to wait until the results are published. Current Controlled Trials Ltd, part of the Current Science Group of companies, has addressed this need by creating a free, international, searchable database of ongoing clinical trials. The metaRegister of controlled trials (mRCT) is a valuable search engine for clinical studies that are underway in all areas of health care. Visitors can search by disease or sponsor for information on over 10,000 trials. The mRCT is not a complete record of all randomized trials worldwide, but does allow visitors to search databases of a number of organizations simultaneously. For example, with one click, a user can search for prostate cancer clinical trials that are sponsored by Oxford University, GlaxoSmithKline, the Leukaemia Research Fund, the Hong Kong Health Services Research Fund, the UK's Medical Research Council, the US Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program, and the National Institutes of Health. The site provides information on patient recruitment status, organizer contact details, reasons for trial termination, trial design and patient eligibility. Trial sponsors trying to recruit new patients can also enter information about their study. Information posted is not reviewed by Current Controlled Trials before being included in the database, and data accuracy is the responsibility of the contributor. The site does, however, have an advisory board made up of editors from a number of medical journals and executives from medical research organizations. Registrants can also receive regular updates by e-mail.