The changing landscape of anti-lymphoma drug clinical trials in mainland China in the past 15 years (2005–2020): A systematic review

BACKGROUND: To depict a comprehensive changing landscape of anti-lymphoma drug clinical trials in mainland China from 2005 to 2020. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted on the China National Medical Products Administration Center for Drug Evaluation platform, the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry and ClinicalTrials.gov websites. FINDINGS: A total of 797 anti-lymphoma drug clinical trials registered from Jan 1st, 2005 to Aug 1st, 2020 were identified. The number of trials increased gradually over time, and a notable increase was observed in 2016, with the number growing from 29 in 2015 to 72 in 2016. Trials in phase I (26•1%) and phase II (26•6%) represented the majority, followed by phase III (12•5%) and phase IV (7•4%). Regarding sponsorship, industry-sponsored trials (53•2%) accounted for a slightly larger proportion than investigator-initiated trials (IITs) (46•8%). A dramatic growth for IITs was seen during 2017–2020, with the number increasing from 36 in 2017 to 96 in 2020. Additionally, the proportion of trials involving targeted agents (50•2%) accounted for the largest, followed by trials involving immunotherapy agents (41•0%), and cytotoxic agents (8•0%). Besides, a sustainable growth was observed in the number of leading anti-lymphoma drug clinical trial units in mainland China over the past 15 years. The majority of leading principal units (60•8%) were from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu. INTERPRETATION: In the past 15 years, the research and development of drugs and clinical trials for lymphoma in mainland China has achieved much progression. Future efforts are needed for improving innovation and sustainability of pharmaceutical research and development. FUNDING: China National Major Project for New Drug Innovation (2017ZX09304015); Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (2016-I2M-1-001).