The DisCoVeRy trial, a phase 3, multi-arm adaptive trial, was first launched in France in 2020 with the aim of expanding to other European countries and strengthening trial management capacity. The primary objective was to evaluate both repurposed and novel medicines rapidly while adapting to new waves of the epidemic in Europe. More broadly, the goal was to establish a sustainable clinical trial network across Europe, specializing in emerging infectious diseases (EID).
In parallel, a multinational European adaptive platform trial was developed with strong governance to provide a modular trial framework for COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases. EU-SolidAct enables hospitals across Europe to participate at their preferred level of commitment. The initiative also aimed to expand the network of trial sites across European and associated countries and to successfully launch at least one trial to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.
Finally, a coordination mechanism was put in place to align European COVID-19 adaptive platform trials, creating links between RECOVER, EU-RESPONSE, VACCELERATE, and ECRAID-Prime. This mechanism, initially named OCToPUs (Organisation for COVID-19 Trial Platforms in Europe), also fostered dialogue with external stakeholders to define high-level specifications for COVID-19 research in the EU while optimizing the use of adaptive platform trials. Additionally, a toolbox was developed to facilitate and harmonize the design and management of these trials across Europe.