Nordic Trial Alliance
activities 2013-2022

The Nordic Trial Alliance (NTA) has during the years facilitated activities that promote Nordic co-operation on clinical research with focus on establishment of Nordic networks or infrastructure. These activities include funding to

  • Nordic networks/platforms for international co-operation
  • Nordic co-ordination of national initiatives (incl. trials)
  • pilot projects
  • infrastructure development.

During the first phase of the NTA project an annual stakeholders meeting was arranged. During the pandemic NTA has provided funding for activities through open calls for network activities, including workshops.

The NTA activities can be divided into three categories:

1. Nordic Trial Alliance Implementation Activities (Networks & Workshops)

2021

Call for proposals: Nordic Collaboration Activities

NTA invited proposals for activities that promote Nordic co-operation on clinical research. More specifically, the purpose of this call was to support activities that aim to build a Nordic platform for participation in upcoming activities at European level, e.g. within Horizon Europe and EU4Health. Activities should strengthen Nordic collaboration and knowledge transfer and deliver concrete outcomes that enhance Nordic clinical research co-operation. Five projects were funded with up to 400 000 NOK each.

  1. The LD-VenEx clinical trial for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
    (Project Leader: Bjørn Tore Gjertsen, Oslo University Hospital, Norway)
  2. NorEpiNet
    (Project Leader: Kaja Selmer, Oslo University Hospital, Norway)
  3. The Nordic SBRT study group – infrastructure and clinical research
    (Project Leader: Karin Lindberg, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden)
  4. The Nordic Precision Cancer Medicine Trial Network
    (Project Leader: Kjetil Taskén, Oslo University Hospital, Norway)
  5. Establishment of Network for Nordic Pediatric Clinical trial Units
    (Project Leader: René Mathiasen, Rigshospitalet, Denmark/NordicPedMed)

2020

Call for proposals: Nordic COVID-19 Activities

In April 2020, NTA invited proposals for activities aiming to promote Nordic cooperation related to COVID-19 research. Activities should strengthen Nordic collaboration and knowledge transfer, with a concrete outcome that will enhance Nordic clinical research cooperation and contribute to the global knowledge related to COVID-19. Four activities were funded with up to 500 000 NOK each:

  1. Establishing the Nordic node of the COVID-19 host genetics initiative
    (Project Leader: Andrea Ganna, FIMM, Finland)
  2. Is severe COVID-19 associated with altered long-term cognitive function? (ASSESS-SHOCK3-COVID)
    (Project Leader: Johanna Hästbacka, University of Helsinki, Finland)
  3. Merging the four Nordic ICU registries for epidemiological research of critically ill COVID-19 patients
    (Hans Flatten, Haukeland University Hospital, Norway)
  4. ACE/ARB-COVID-19 – A Nordic population registry study of ACE inhibitors/ARBs and SARS-CoV-2 infection severity
    (Marte Helene Bjørk, University of Bergen, Norway)

2019

Call for proposals: Nordic Strategic Activities

During spring 2019, NTA opened a call for proposals for strategic activities aiming to promote Nordic cooperation within clinical research. Funded activities should have a vision to move Nordic collaboration within a certain area forward and a concrete outcome that will enhance Nordic clinical research cooperation. Six activities were funded with up to 300 000 NOK each.

  1. Strategic workshop of the borderline research between traditional interventional clinical trials RCT and Real World Evidence / Register studies
    (Project Leader: Marina Bengtström, PIF, Finland)
  2. Nordic Alliance in Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT)
    (Project Leader: Christian Lodberg Hvas, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark)
  3. Nordic network for emergency department pain management
    (Project Leader: Anders Moellekaer, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark)
  4. NORdic uroTHelial cancer REsearch Group – NORTH-REG network
    (Project Leader: Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen, Aarhus University Hospital; Denmark)
  5. Nordic Anal Cancer Network
    (Project Leader: Karen-Lise Spindler, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark)
  6. Nordic EUPATI workshop (patient network)
    (Project Leader: Mirjami Tran Minh
    Association of Cancer Patients in Finland & EUPATI Finland)

2018

Call for proposals: Nordic Strategic Activities

In November 2018, NTA opened a call for proposals for strategic activities aiming to promote Nordic cooperation within clinical research. Funded activities should have a vision to move Nordic collaboration within a certain area forward and a concrete outcome that will enhance Nordic clinical research cooperation. Three activities were funded with up to 300 000 NOK each.

  1. Nordic monitoring network
    (Project Leader: Birgitte Vilsbøll Hansen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark)
  2. Nordic PedMed Stage 3 – Nordic paediatric medicine cooperation
    (Project Leader: Pirkko Lepola, Helsinki University Hospital)
  3. Nordic Myeloma Study Group
    (Project Leader: Anette Juhl Vangsted, Rigshospitalet, Denmark)

2016

Call for proposals: Strategic implementation projects

NTA announced calls for strategic implementation projects with the aim to increasing Nordic collaboration by reducing cross-border barriers. Nine activities, mostly networks and workshops, were funded:

  1. Workshop on Cross border participation in clinical trials in the Nordic region
    (Project Leader Steinar Aamdal, Oslo University Hospital)
  2. Harmonised Nordic Ethical Evaluation of Clinical Trials
    (Project Leader Mika Scheinin, Hospital District of Southwest Finland, Research Services)
  3. Nordic Monitoring Network
    (Project Leader Birgitte Vilsbøll Hansen, GCP unit Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
  4. Establishing a Nordic network for clinical trials in children – NordicPedMed Stage 2
    (Project leader Pirkko Lepola, Helsinki University Hospital)
  5. Nordic Conference on Real-World Data
  6. Nordic Hotspot for Life Science
  7. Nordic Network on antimicrobial multi-resistance research
  8. Workshop on Nordic Pragmatic Clinical Trials
  9. Conference on Collaborative Nordic Use of Health Care Quality Registries

2013

Early on in the first NTA project, the NTA Board identified eight areas of immediate need for coordinative clinical research activities. In order to gain momentum on the road towards a common Nordic clinical research market, a call for Nordic implementation activities were opened 2013 and five activities funded:

  1. Collaboration on ethical review of clinical research in the Nordic countries
  2. Collaboration between Industry and Academia
  3. Monitoring of Clinical Research
  4. Transparency and Registration
  5. Nordic network for medicines for children – NordicPedMed
2. Nordic Trial Alliance Clinical Research Projects

2018

Call for proposals: Nordic Clinical Trial Projects on Paediatric Cancer Treatment

The call target was paediatric cancer treatment. Every year, several hundred children and young people in the Nordic countries are diagnosed with cancer, and there is a need for new knowledge to further develop satisfactory treatment services. This call for projects aims to support Nordic researcher projects in cancer medicine or expansion of ongoing national projects into Nordic ones. A study at the Nordic level should lead to benefits beyond those of a single country study.

The call was a joint effort by NordForsk, the Norwegian Cancer Society and the Research Council of Norway. Each project received up to 10 MNOK. Three projects were funded.

The three projects should aim to establish Nordic competence networks within clinical research on paediatric cancers. The projects are expected to set up procedures for knowledge sharing in and between the Nordic countries in order to support quality improvement in health care services for this particular patient group.

  1. ALLTogether – a European treatment protocol for children and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
    Project Leader Mats Heyman
  2. Matching relapsed/refractory cancers with more phase 1-2 clinical trials (NOPHOmatch)
    Project Leader Karsten Nysom
  3. Nordic ALLSTAR
    Project Leader Thomas Leth Frandsen

2014

Call for proposals: NTA Pilot Call: Support to Nordic clinical research projects – Insights

The call aimed to support ongoing Nordic clinical research projects or expansion of ongoing national projects into Nordic ones. The NTA call aimed to support existing and developing Nordic networks in clinical research and to identify and provide solutions to obstacles that prevent or impede Nordic research cooperation.

  1. Assisted reproductive technology and safety in the Nordic countries (Project Leader Anja Pinborg, Rigshospitalet, Denmark)
  2. BMT in elderly AML – a prospective, controlled, international study (Project Leader Mats Brune, University of Gothenburg, Sweden)
  3. NORD-STAR (Project Leader Merete Hetland, Rigshospitalet, Denmark)
  4. Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association – an international quality register study of total joint arthroplasty of four nations (Project Leader Keijo Mäkälä, Hospital District of Southwest Finland)
  5. Discontinuation of infliximab therapy in patients with Crohn´s disease during sustained complete remission (Project Leader Mark Ainsworth, Odense University Hospital, Denmark)
3. Nordic Trial Alliance Stakeholders Meetings

”Towards a common Nordic Clinical Research Area” (2014)

”Nordic Cooperation on Ethical Review Procedures” (2015)

“Potential in Nordic Clinical Research Cooperation” (2016)

“Towards personalised medicine in Nordic clinical trials cooperation: NTA 2.0” (2017)