KCE Trials funds Belgian participation to international trials in several ways.
- Joint calls together with public funders from other countries will offer funding opportunities for trials that have collaborating centres in all countries taking part and share sponsor costs. These joint calls have one common selection process and aim at answering research questions that are of interest for the different health care systems.
- KCE Trials is willing to fund the costs of Belgian participation in international trials initiated by non-commercial sponsors abroad. If KCE Trials is responsible for a significant amount of the sponsor costs, review and input by the KCE Trials Board are required.
- Trials funded through the commissioned or investigator-led workstream can include participating centres outside of Belgium within the KCE Trials budget, if the proportion of patients randomised abroad is limited. Shared funding of the sponsor costs is expected if a significant proportion of patients will be recruited outside Belgium.
- Exceptionally, KCE Trials will support the participation of Belgian centres to non-commercial trials that have already started recruitment abroad. This type of participation to international trials will be decided by the KCE Trials Prioritisation Group on a case by case basis, depending on the relevance of the trial for the remit of the KCE Trials programme, the importance for the Belgian health care system, the and the interest of Belgian centres to participate.