Who Sponsors a Clinical Trial?

Most clinical trial studies are sponsored by pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies, medical institutions, and foundations. In some cases, a government agency such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides funding for the trials.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees all clinical trial studies done in the U.S. It is responsible for:

• Determining if a clinical trial is needed.
• Approves the scope and goals of the trial.
• Helps select the researchers who will run the trial.
• Reviews the results of the clinical trial.
• Determines if the new medication or device will be made available to the public.