Learn more about Clinical Trials
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About Clinical Trials
Discover how you can take part in clinical trials and access innovative treatments shaping better health outcomes for the future.
What is a Clinical trial?
A clinical trial is a research study that helps us understand how medicines, treatments, or medical devices work in people.
All trials are carefully designed and reviewed by an independent ethics committee before they begin. Taking part is always your choice, and your wellbeing comes first.
Clinical trials are an important step in developing new treatments, helping us understand what works, who it works for, and at what dose.
How clinical trials progress
Clinical trials happen in stages, building on what is already known:
- Early stages look at how a treatment is tolerated and any side effects
- Later stages look at how well it works, the right dose, and longer-term effects
You’ll be closely monitored throughout the study, with regular check-ins from your trial team.
How do I find a clinical trial that’s right for me?
You can explore our Recruiting Trials page to see what studies are currently open and check if you might be eligible.
You can also:
- Register your interest for current or future studies
- Contact our team - we’re here to answer your questions
- Talk to your GP or specialist about whether a trial could be right for you
Key Benefits Include
Participants in a clinical trial are closely monitored at no cost by a team of clinicians to protect your safety, improve treatment outcomes and assure data integrity. This offers the benefit of a deeper level of involvement in your own treatment which itself may give you improved health outcomes.
Clinicians conducting clinical trials are the leading experts in their field. Just by participating in a clinical trial the participant gains free access at no cost to the best doctors.
- Research clinicians are thought to be 5 years ahead of non-research clinicians
People who participate in a clinical trial gain access to the very latest innovative new medicines and clinical devices, sometimes years before they become available to the general public. When you hear about a remarkable new drug, you'll find that it was in fact introduced to patients years earlier.
In NZ, medicines are purchased by the Government drug buying agency PHARMAC. PHARMAC has a limited budget meaning the only way to access some innovative and new treatments is through clinical trials.
Clinical Trials have been shown in published medical studies to deliver superior health outcomes over standard care.
While there are many reasons for this the main ones appear to be:
- Participants have a detailed and documented outcome through their journey
- Participants develop a greater knowledge of their own disease
- Physicians involved in research appear to practice medicine in advance of their colleagues
- Increased interactions and face to face with top medical staff
Explore current trials or register to hear about future opportunities.
View our recruiting trials page to see if any of our current trials are right for you. Or register to hear of up and coming trials.
