FACILITATE
Framework for Clinical Trial Participants’ Data Reutilization for a Fully Transparent and Ethical Ecosystem
To facilitate the process of patient access to clinical trial data and to manage re-use of data

What is FACILITATE
FACILITATE is a 4-year project launched by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) which primary aim is to enable clinical trial participants to access and make use of their personal health data gathered during studies, to allow a better shared medical decision-making with the health professionals involved in their care and to create a process that allows data to be re-used also in future research.
Its overall goal is to develop an innovative data-sharing and re-use process within a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant and approved ethical framework, not only to allow the access and portability of patient data but also to change the role of patients in the strategy and design of clinical trials – with many new rights and responsibilities – becoming an active component of the drug development process.
The project will first seek to create an ethical, legal, and regulatory ecosystem that provides clear rules for all stakeholders who are engaging patients and managing their very important health data. With that framework in place, FACILITATE will then aim to develop technological solutions to support the sharing and re-use of data as agreed, first, with the patients.
The idea is that patient study data could be available for cross-referencing with other repositories – improving upon the current situation, in which clinical data are siloed in separate repositories and unable to be used outside of the clinical trial. FACILITATE will ensure that the whole process, from the collection of data to its destruction or anonymization including its sharing and re-use, is legally and ethically compliant and aligned with the study participants’ but also hospitals’, academia, and industries’ voice.
For Whom
- For Patients, to aid better shared medical decision-making
- For Healthcare Professionals, to encourage clinical decision making and reduce duplication
- For Regulators, to open possibilities for ethical data re-use
- For EU Researchers, to permit informed workable aligned positions
- For Pharma, to improve future research
- For Society, to increase the trust of patients and improve oversight on clinical data re-use
FACILITATE in Four Phases
Explore, assess, and align
Focuses on the needs and rights of the patients and study participants and has the purpose to gather all information needed for designing the FACILITATE platform in compliance with ethical, legal, technical, and regulatory specifications
Development
Focuses on the development of data governance models for cases where individual clinical trial data can be utilized for both healthcare decision making and future research, considering previous and ongoing EU-level activities on data governance in these fields
Piloting and Testing
Focuses on testing the FACILITATE prototype process in clinical partners centres and in others to be agreed with EFPIA
Follow Up & Evaluation
Focuses on providing recommendations concerning the new procedures needed to involve and train patients and stakeholders and provides the technical details of the FACILITATE platform to redesign clinical trials
Project built on a patient-centered, data-driven, technological platform
Project Timeline
01/01/2022 – 31/12/2025
Project Partners
27 partners from 16 Member States
Total Budget
6.886.711 Euro
Project Coordinator
Università degli Studi di Modena and Reggio Emilia
Project Leader
Sanofi S.A.
Latest News
Individual data return is now reality
in the USA, participants to clinical trials can now have consistent and reliable access to their individual data through a Pfizer innovative initiative.Pfizer has made a commitment to return individual data to its clinical trials participants through the Participant...
Hand by hand towards trusted alliances
“Returning Individual Participant Data, A Cultural and Organizational Shift Toward Personalized Clinical Trial Options” was the DIA 2023 ILLUMINATE topic for panelists from TransCelerate, MRCT, Pfizer, and FACILITATE, with more than 200 attendees. The panel discussion...
Health data sharing: challenges in an interconnected society
On April 26, 2023, the Health & Ageing Law Lab (HALL) of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) hosted FACILITATE its successful inaugural Health, Law and Technology (HELT) symposium in Brussels. The symposium aimed to explore the challenges and impacts of the European...
Next Events
MRCT Multi Regional Clinical trial Annual Meeting 2023
MRCT Multi Regional Clinical trial Annual Meeting 2023
MRCT Multi Regional Clinical trial Annual Meeting 2023 13-14 December, Hybrid, Boston
Innovations in Clinical Trials Congress
Innovations in Clinical Trials Congress
Innovations in Clinical Trials Congress 11 September 2023, London, UK
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