Clinical Trials

Learn About Clinical Research

Why participate in a clinical trial? Finding new and improved medicines is possible only through the help of people like you. Every clinical trial participant provides valuable information that might help improve medical research and knowledge. 

People take part in clinical trials for many reasons, including the chance to: 

• Help in the development of a medicine that may benefit people in the future 

• Receive study-related monitoring for their health 

• Help find new cures and treatments for the future 

Learn more about what to expect in clinical trials on the Lilly TrialGuide website here. 

Diversity in Clinical Trials

Responses to medicines can vary depending on a number of factors, including someone’s genetic background, ethnicity, gender and lifestyle. 

This is why it’s critical for Lilly to have diverse representation in clinical trials – to gain the insights necessary to make medicines that will be the most effective for all people who use them. 

Unfortunately, minority populations have been historically and consistently underrepresented in clinical trials. As a result, important information about how medicines work in minority populations is not always available. In response, Lilly has developed a clinical trial diversity strategy to better understand patient differences that may affect clinical outcomes and to help increase the enrollment of racially and ethnically diverse populations in U.S. clinical trials. The ultimate goal of our clinical trial diversity strategy is to improve health outcomes for individual patients.

Clinical Trials Transparency

Lilly has a history of commitment to transparency of our clinical studies. In 2004, Lilly became the first company to voluntarily disclose the initiation of our clinical studies and post study results in a publicly available registry. Since the start of 2014, Lilly has enhanced our transparency initiatives in alignment with the PhRMA/EFPIA Principles for Responsible Clinical Trial Data Sharing. Lilly recognizes that responsible sharing of clinical study data has the ability to enhance public health while safeguarding the privacy of patients, respecting the integrity of national regulatory systems and maintaining incentives for investments in biomedical research. 

Independent Clinical Research

In addition to sponsoring its own clinical research and research collaborations, Lilly has programs for considering external requests for Lilly provision of study drug and/or financial support for independent clinical research that is initiated, designed and sponsored by external researchers. 

Lilly considers such requests for support of independent clinical research projects based on scientific merit and strategic fit with Lilly’s areas of research interest. These reviews are carried out by global committees composed of Lilly medical and scientific staff members from relevant therapeutic areas.

Health care and research professionals may submit a concept online.