Clinical Trial Intelligence

What Are Phase III Haematology CTIS Timelines—and What Signals Delay?

19 July 2026

Across 164 European Phase III haematology trials, the median end-to-end CTIS timeline was 59 days (SD 41.3), while country-specific Part II processing had a median of 140 days (SD 237.1). End-to-end review was completed within 120 days for 141/164 trials (86.0%), but only 349/729 Part II country records (47.9%) reached a decision within the same interval. Country, submission month, disease group and modality showed the largest descriptive differences.

Trials
164
Phase III haematology CTIS submissions
Countries
25
with country-specific Part II timelines
End-to-end median
59 days
SD 41.3 · IQR 31–113.2
Part II median
140 days
SD 237.1 · IQR 29–439

How quickly do trials reach CTIS authorization?

End-to-end approval reached the 60-day mark for 85/164 trials (51.8%) and the 90-day mark for 97/164 (59.1%). Country-specific Part II decisions were slower: 296/729 (40.6%) were within 60 days and 326/729 (44.7%) within 90 days.

End-to-end: initial CTIS submission to first authorization
≤30d
40/164 · 24.4%
≤60d
85/164 · 51.8%
≤90d
97/164 · 59.1%
≤120d
141/164 · 86.0%
≤180d
164/164 · 100.0%
Trial-level measure; n=164. Median 59 days; SD 41.3 days.
Part II: country submission to country decision
≤30d
191/729 · 26.2%
≤60d
296/729 · 40.6%
≤90d
326/729 · 44.7%
≤120d
349/729 · 47.9%
≤180d
405/729 · 55.6%
≤365d
511/729 · 70.1%
Country-level measure; n=729. Median 140 days; SD 237.1 days.
Interpretation

A 60-day planning assumption matches the end-to-end median, but not the typical country Part II experience. A 120-day buffer covered 86.0% of end-to-end authorizations yet only 47.9% of Part II country decisions.

Which countries have the shortest Part II timelines?

Among countries with at least 10 recorded Part II decisions, Norway had the shortest median at 26 days (n=17), followed by Sweden at 28 days (n=22), the Netherlands at 41.5 days (n=38), Portugal at 50 days (n=12), Ireland at 63 days (n=10), and Hungary at 69 days (n=25). Italy had the longest high-volume median at 249 days (n=86).

Fastest high-volume
Norway · 26 days
n=17 · 64.7% within 60 days
Longest high-volume
Italy · 249 days
n=86 · 27.9% within 60 days
Country-specific Part II benchmarks
Country n Median days SD ≤60d ≤90d
Norway 17 26 210.1 64.7% 64.7%
Sweden 22 28 237.5 63.6% 68.2%
Croatia 5 28 246.5 80.0% 80.0%
Finland 7 29 294.2 57.1% 57.1%
Lithuania 8 38 178.6 62.5% 62.5%
Netherlands 38 41.5 253.2 52.6% 52.6%
Portugal 12 50 213.8 58.3% 66.7%
Ireland 10 63 199.1 50.0% 60.0%
Hungary 25 69 222.9 40.0% 52.0%
Slovenia 1 91 0.0% 0.0%
Romania 19 121 203.9 47.4% 47.4%
Bulgaria 20 124 227.4 45.0% 45.0%
Spain 77 129 239.0 40.3% 45.5%
Czechia 33 133 189.2 39.4% 45.5%
Latvia 1 138 0.0% 0.0%
Poland 55 143 206.2 36.4% 41.8%
Belgium 34 143 223.6 41.2% 41.2%
Germany 77 163 261.7 40.3% 44.2%
Denmark 19 163 253.1 47.4% 47.4%
France 88 182.5 240.8 38.6% 44.3%
Greece 38 183.5 255.1 23.7% 34.2%
Austria 29 189 236.0 34.5% 34.5%
Slovakia 6 190 168.4 33.3% 33.3%
Italy 86 249 256.1 27.9% 31.4%
Estonia 2 250 319.6 50.0% 50.0%
Part II is country-specific. End-to-end CTIS timing is not assigned to individual countries. SD is shown where at least two observations were available.
Interpretation

Country selection materially changes the expected Part II timeline. The median ranged from 26 days in Norway to 249 days in Italy among countries with at least 10 observations, a 9.6-fold difference.

Does submission month correlate with review speed?

Yes, but the pattern differed by process. Initial CTIS submissions in July had the shortest end-to-end median at 31 days (16/25, 64.0%, shorter than the overall median), while December had the longest at 115 days (8/15, 53.3%, taking at least 90 days). For country Part II submissions, March was fastest at 28 days and December slowest at 442 days.

End-to-end median by initial CTIS submission month
January
101 days
n=11 · ≥90d 54.5%
February
49 days
n=8 · ≥90d 37.5%
March
113.5 days
n=6 · ≥90d 66.7%
April
62.5 days
n=6 · ≥90d 33.3%
May
47 days
n=18 · ≥90d 16.7%
June
38.5 days
n=18 · ≥90d 27.8%
July
31 days
n=25 · ≥90d 36.0%
August
106.5 days
n=10 · ≥90d 60.0%
September
48 days
n=13 · ≥90d 30.8%
October
111 days
n=21 · ≥90d 52.4%
November
62 days
n=13 · ≥90d 46.2%
December
115 days
n=15 · ≥90d 53.3%
Green: below the 59-day overall median. Amber: 59–89 days. Red: 90 days or longer.
Country Part II median by Part II submission month
January
52 days
n=81 · ≥90d 39.5%
February
129 days
n=57 · ≥90d 54.4%
March
28 days
n=55 · ≥90d 21.8%
April
33 days
n=65 · ≥90d 33.8%
May
239 days
n=49 · ≥90d 65.3%
June
41 days
n=102 · ≥90d 46.1%
July
380 days
n=87 · ≥90d 80.5%
August
308 days
n=58 · ≥90d 74.1%
September
166 days
n=37 · ≥90d 67.6%
October
180 days
n=53 · ≥90d 69.8%
November
99 days
n=53 · ≥90d 52.8%
December
442 days
n=32 · ≥90d 78.1%
Green: below the 140-day overall Part II median. Amber: 140–239 days. Red: 240 days or longer.
Interpretation

Submission timing was one of the strongest observed signals, but it should not be transferred between processes: the fastest months for end-to-end CTIS authorization were not the same as the fastest months for country Part II decisions.

Which haematology disease groups are associated with delay?

Lymphoma trials had the shortest end-to-end median at 30 days, with 11/14 (78.6%) shorter than the overall median and 3/14 (21.4%) taking at least 90 days. Haemostasis/thrombosis trials had the longest end-to-end median at 115 days, with 11/17 (64.7%) taking at least 90 days. Part II showed a different ranking: MDS/MPN was fastest at 38.5 days, while red-cell disorders were slowest at 357 days.

Disease-group timeline comparison
Disease group End-to-end Part II country records
n Median ≥90d n Median ≥90d
Lymphoma 14 30 21.4% 35 107 60.0%
Plasma-cell disorders 21 48 23.8% 132 137 56.1%
Red-cell disorders 35 48 37.1% 120 357 71.7%
Other haematology 9 63 22.2% 11 100 63.6%
Immune / rare haematology 21 64 47.6% 115 225 60.0%
Acute leukaemia 26 65 46.2% 101 162 54.5%
MDS / MPN 12 91 50.0% 82 38.5 28.0%
Chronic leukaemia 9 95 55.6% 33 247 63.6%
Haemostasis / thrombosis 17 115 64.7% 100 73 48.0%
Disease categories were harmonized from the recorded CTIS disease labels; Part II results use country-level decisions.
Interpretation

Disease mix was a substantial stratifier, but the direction changed between EU-level authorization and country Part II review. Planning benchmarks should therefore be disease- and process-specific rather than based on one haematology-wide average.

How does therapeutic modality relate to CTIS timing?

Cell/gene therapy and monoclonal-antibody trials had relatively short end-to-end medians of 41.5 and 44 days, respectively, whereas trials containing a bispecific antibody had a 109-day median. In Part II, ADC-containing records had a 41-day median and protein/enzyme records 44 days, while small-molecule records reached 244 days, cell/gene therapy 259.5 days and RNA/oligonucleotide records 356 days.

Modality presence and timeline
Modality End-to-end Part II country records
n Median ≥90d n Median ≥90d
ADC 4 80 50.0% 32 41 37.5%
Protein / enzyme 35 63 45.7% 181 44 36.5%
Cell / gene therapy 14 41.5 21.4% 46 259.5 65.2%
Monoclonal antibody 60 44 31.7% 273 133 53.8%
Small molecule 102 59 40.2% 397 244 65.5%
Bispecific antibody 15 109 53.3% 115 55 46.1%
RNA / oligonucleotide 4 71 50.0% 22 356 90.9%
A trial may contain more than one modality, so modality groups overlap and are descriptive rather than mutually exclusive.
Interpretation

Modality was process-specific: categories associated with shorter end-to-end authorization were not necessarily faster in Part II. This pattern suggests that centralized review and national-document review are sensitive to different aspects of trial complexity.

Do trial footprint and design explain delay?

A broader country footprint had a modest association with longer end-to-end review: trials involving eight or more countries had a 74-day median versus 44 days for two to four countries (Spearman ρ=0.16). In contrast, total site count (ρ=0.04) and target sample size (ρ=0.07) showed little relationship with end-to-end duration.

Median end-to-end timeline by country footprint
≤1 country
n=48
56.5d
2–4 countries
n=36
44d
5–7 countries
n=39
58d
8+ countries
n=41
74d
Country count is based on recorded country participation. Bars are scaled to 120 days.
Basic design: limited E2E effect
Randomised: 60.5d vs 57.5d
Open-label: 60d vs 57d
Orphan: 60d vs 57d
Design signals stronger in Part II
Open-label: 178d vs 103d
Paediatric: 245d vs 94d
Biomarker-stratified: 249d vs 135d
Interpretation

Number of countries mattered more than number of sites or planned participants for end-to-end timing. Design features were generally weak E2E signals, but paediatric, open-label and biomarker-stratified records had longer country Part II medians.

What planning benchmarks follow from the data?

The dataset supports separate EU-level and national planning assumptions rather than one blended CTIS target.

60d
Base end-to-end CTIS benchmark
The 59-day median means 60 days is a realistic central estimate; 120 days covered 86.0% of trials.
140d
Base country Part II benchmark
The median was 140 days, but 180 days covered only 55.6% and 365 days 70.1% of country records.
+risk
Add buffers for country, month, disease and modality
Examples include Italy (249-day Part II median), December Part II submissions (442 days), red-cell disorders (357 days) and RNA/oligonucleotide records (356 days).
Interpretation

For EU submission planning, use approximately 60 days for central end-to-end authorization and build a separate country-specific Part II schedule. The observed associations are descriptive and should be used as risk stratifiers rather than causal guarantees.

Definitions. End-to-end CTIS timeline: initial CTIS submission to first CTIS authorization at trial level. Part II: earliest country-specific Part II submission to latest country decision or authorization. SD: sample standard deviation. “Shorter than median” means under 59 days for end-to-end and under 140 days for Part II. Substantial delay thresholds were 60 and 90 days.