Why Poland is considered one of the most important Clinical Trials markets in Europe?

Pratia is a Platform for Innovative Medicine with more than 90 Sites in six European countries.

Each of our countries provides great benefits and clear opportunities for the development of numerous Clinical Trials.

This time, our expert Łukasz Bęczkowski will take a brief snapshot of the landscape of the research site in Poland.

The Patient population and healthcare system confirm, why Poland is considered one of the most important Clinical Trials markets in Europe. This is due to several driving factors, including:

• Availability of Patients willing to participate in Clinical Trials and with the relevant disease profile,

• Availability of qualified Investigators willing and available to conduct the trials,

• The willingness of Patients to participate in trials because the trial facilitates access to a higher standard of care or medications not otherwise available to them,

• Poland offers one of the largest Patient populations in Europe and a significant number of well-trained investigators.

At the same time, however, the existing health system suffers from a lack of medical personnel and insufficient public health financing in some areas. Both of these factors limit Patients' access to medical care and new therapies, making Clinical Trials an attractive alternative for many Patients. All of the above contribute to the high ranking of Polish sites in terms of the number of Patients enrolled.

“Given that Patients are the principal beneficiaries of novel treatment modalities this is a very strong message worthy to be publicized”, Vladimir Misik, Biopharma product development executive and co-founder of Viares.

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THIS RESEARCH SITE LANDSCAPE IN POLAND:

Poland, with its population of 38.4 million is ranked as the 5th largest country in Europe and 36th worldwide. There is a well-established healthcare system in Poland that has both public and private components. Generally, healthcare services are provided as:

  Stationary (24 hours a day):

• e.g., at the hospital and outside of the hospital (oriented more to general care rather than treatment),

• e.g., hospices or rehabilitation.

Ambulatory:

• e.g., primary health care or ambulatory specialist care Patient population and healthcare system overview.

Medical services can be provided by entities as regulated by law (Medical Services Act, dated 15th April 2011, as amended), the key ones are:

• Enterprise,

• Independent public healthcare centers,

• Public offices e.g., dependent on Defense Ministry, Home Office etc.,

• Research Institutes,

• Foundations or associations.

Medical professionals can provide their services at organized entities (as above) as well as individual or group professional practices.
Let's take into account the following data:
The environment:

• There are a total of 22 universities in Poland (including 9 dedicated medical universities) with medical faculties,

• According to official statistics, 4,638 medical doctors graduated in Poland in 2020,

• In 2017 there were a reported 90,284 active medics, which is the 6th largest.

Access to medical care:

• Another important fact to take into account is the average access to doctors. If we compare the indicators of doctors per 1000 citizens, Poland with a value of 2.4 is below the EU average of 3.7.

Healthcare financing expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product:

• Compared by country, Poland ranks behind the biggest European economies as well as several CEE countries.

This brief snapshot of the Patient population and healthcare system confirms why Poland is considered one of the most important Clinical Trials markets in Europe.

This interesting article is part of “Report Industry Clinical Trials in Poland. Possibilities to increase number and scope of trials in Poland.2021” – commissioned by INFARMA  and POLCRO, in which our expert Łukasz Bęczkowski has collaborated.
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Do you want to know more about how the Research site models are configured in Poland? Don’t miss the next article.

Meanwhile, contact us and check what our Pratia Poland Site network can offer to achieve the success of your Clinical Trial.