Clinical Trial Safety Under CTR: What CROs Need to Know in 2025
Under the EU Clinical Trials Regulation (CTR), safety reporting has entered a fully harmonized era — and CROs must adapt quickly.
What changed:
CTR now requires all SUSAR submissions to be reported exclusively via EudraVigilance, using ICSR E2B(R3) and EDQM terminology — eliminating parallel national submissions.
At the same time, the Annual Safety Report (ASR) replaces the former “DSUR” terminology within the CTR framework, with detailed expectations outlined in the recently updated CTIS Sponsor Handbook.
Impact for CROs:
Integrating pharmacovigilance databases with CTMS/EDC is now essential to ensure clean SUSAR flows, correct E2B(R3) mapping, updated ASR procedures, and clearly defined timelines and responsibilities for annual aggregate reporting.
What should CROs do now? — A short action list
1-Complete the CTIS transition for all ongoing trials continuing beyond 31 January 2025 — including access rights and transition dashboards.
2-Strengthen transparency governance: CCI matrices, “publishable” document templates, and targeted training for medical/regulatory teams.
3-Standardise hybrid DCT operations: SOPs for home visits, eConsent, identity verification, digital devices, and IMP courier/traceability workflows.
4-Implement AI governance: algorithm registry, validation processes, performance monitoring, and clear “human-in-the-loop” oversight.
5-Align clinical PV with CTR: full integration with EudraVigilance, E2B(R3), ASR, and a harmonised QMS framework.
At Tigermed EMEA, we support sponsors in navigating these regulatory shifts with compliant systems, optimised workflows, and end-to-end clinical operations aligned with CTR 2025 expectations.