Spinal cord injury must become curable.

ICCP guidelines

for experimental therapies

What you should know if you are considering participation in a clinical study.

Information booklet for people with spinal cord injuries, their families and friends

ICCP Guide Summary | 1 MB

ICCP Guide | 2 MB

Clinical Studies

Phases of a clinical trial

A clinical trial extends to about 8 years and undergoes three phases.

Phase I: Is to find out if the treatment is safe: The treatment is given to a small number of patients to see if there are side-effects

Phase II: Is designed to look for positive treatment effects by comparing patients receiving the treatment with those of a control group

Phase III: After the phase II has been successfully completed, and has shown positive treatment effects, the trial proceeds in phase III, where the new treatment will be given to a larger number of patients - usually in several clinics - and compared to a control treatment

Clinical Studies

promising new treatment

New treatments - moving from the laboratory into the clinic - need to undergo clinical trials. The different phases of the clinical trials are necessary to prove whether a new treatment is safe, does not harm the patient and shows a clear, positive treatment effect.

Only really highly promising new treatment approaches justify a clinical trial. All clinical trials have specific enrolment criteria, as well as exclusion criteria, because not all patients qualify for a new treatment.