Members of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) are working on comparing protocols of ongoing and planned COVID-19 trials with master protocols in different countries to identify potential overlaps, which may hopefully optimize research of the infection by reducing replication across trials.

This work stems from a June 12 meeting of ICMRA members to discuss regulatory approaches to the worldwide coordinated response to the pandemic. The meeting follows a joint statement released in April by ICMRA that recommended prioritization of large, well-designed controlled COVID-19 studies and emphasized a global approach to develop treatments and vaccines for the infection.