Clinical Trial Intelligence

Which European sites lead RNA Phase I–II trial activity in 2024–2026?

15 June 2026

The RNA Phase I–II cohort contains 31 unique trials after deduplicating Phase I/II overlap, with 442 site-trial slots, 281 distinct European sites, and 2,601 planned country-level participant allocations. Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Paris is the strongest repeat site, appearing in 9 of 31 trials. Spain has the largest site footprint with 100 of 442 site slots, while France has the largest planned participant allocation with 427 of 2,601 participants.

Unique trials
31
Phase I, Phase II, and Phase I/II overlap
Distinct sites
281
442 site-trial slots
Top site
Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Paris
9 of 31 trials
Top country by sites
Spain
100 site slots; 304 participants

Which sites appear most often in RNA Phase I–II trials?

Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Paris leads with 9 trial participations, covering 29.0% of the 31-trial cohort. Hospital Universitari Vall D Hebron follows with 8 trial participations, while Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, and Hospital Universitario Ramon Y Cajal each appear in 7 trials.

Share of 31 RNA Phase I–II trials by site
Rank Site Country Trials Share
1Assistance Publique Hopitaux De ParisFrance929.0%
2Hospital Universitari Vall D HebronSpain825.8%
3Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin KöRGermany722.6%
4Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCSItaly722.6%
5Hospital Universitario Ramon Y CajalSpain722.6%
6Erasmus Universitair Medisch Centrum RotterdamNetherlands619.4%
7Hospital Universitario 12 De OctubreSpain619.4%
8Narodowy Instytut Onkologii Im. Marii Sklodowskiej-CuriePoland619.4%
9University Hospital Virgen Del Rocio S.L.Spain619.4%
10Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Dei TumoriItaly516.1%
Measure: distinct trial participation by site within 31 RNA Phase I–II cohort trials.
Interpretation

Early-stage RNA trial capacity is concentrated in high-throughput academic and oncology-linked hospital networks. France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Poland all contribute repeat sites, but AP-HP is the clearest multi-protocol early RNA hub.

Which countries carry the largest Phase I–II RNA site footprint?

The top five countries account for 334 of 442 site slots, or 75.6% of all RNA Phase I–II site activity. Spain leads by site footprint with 100 site slots, while France leads by planned participant allocation with 427 participants.

Site-slot share by country
Spain22.6%
Germany19.5%
France12.9%
Italy10.4%
Poland10.2%
Belgium6.1%
Netherlands3.4%
Sweden2.7%
Hungary2.5%
Portugal2.3%
Denominator: 442 RNA Phase I–II site-trial slots.
Country Site slots Participants Trial-country entries
Spain10030414
Germany8633313
France5742717
Italy4613911
Poland4519210
Interpretation

Spain and Germany dominate early-stage RNA site capacity by site count, while France carries the highest planned participant allocation. This suggests early RNA trial planning separates broad site activation from high-volume enrolment allocation.

Which therapy areas drive early RNA site demand?

Oncology is the dominant early RNA segment, accounting for 13 of 31 trials and 275 of 442 site slots. That equals 41.9% of trials and 62.2% of all site slots. Rare disease and cardiology are the next largest site-demand areas, with 59 and 55 site slots respectively.

Site-slot share by therapy-area tag
Oncology62.2%
Rare Disease13.3%
Cardiology12.4%
Gastroenterology6.3%
Haematology5.7%
Denominator: 442 site slots. Therapy-area tags may overlap when a trial is tagged to more than one area.
Interpretation

Early RNA site demand is already heavily oncology-led. Rare disease remains important, but it uses smaller specialist networks, while cardiology contributes fewer trials but a large site footprint.

Which disease clusters explain the early RNA site footprint?

Head and neck cancer labels create the largest disease cluster, with 70 site slots. Colorectal cancer follows with 61 site slots, while bladder cancer contributes 35 site slots. Outside oncology, heart failure-related cardiology labels contribute 25 site slots and hemophilia B contributes 19.

Largest disease labels in RNA Phase I–II trials
Oncology
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma / recurrent / metastatic labels
70 site slots; 15.8% of all site slots
Oncology
Colorectal cancer, resected stage II high-risk / stage III
61 site slots; 13.8% of all site slots
Oncology
Bladder cancer
35 site slots; 7.9% of all site slots
Cardiology
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction / LVH / VTE labels
25 site slots; 5.7% of all site slots
Disease labels reflect trial context tags; disease labels can overlap within one trial.
Interpretation

Early RNA development is not concentrated in a single disease. Instead, oncology creates the broadest site networks, while rare disease, cardiology, and haematology create smaller, specialist-driven site clusters.

How early is the RNA Phase I–II cohort?

The cohort is weighted toward Phase II: 16 of 31 trials appear only in Phase II files, 13 appear across Phase I/II overlap, and 2 appear only in Phase I files. By trial-stage label, 13 trials are Phase I/II, 12 are Phase II, 3 are Phase II/III, 2 are Phase I, and 1 is Phase II/IV.

Trial-level and modality composition
51.6%
16/31 Phase II-only file presence
41.9%
13/31 Phase I/II overlap
67.7%
21/31 mRNA-tagged trials
41.9%
13/31 Other RNA-tagged trials
12.9%
4/31 pediatric trials
9.7%
3/31 orphan-drug trials
Denominator: 31 unique RNA Phase I–II cohort trials. Modality tags can overlap.
Interpretation

The early RNA cohort is mostly development-expansion rather than pure first-in-human activity. The high Phase I/II and Phase II presence suggests many programs are already moving into proof-of-concept, dose-expansion, or indication-focused site networks.

Definitions

Site-trial slot means one de-duplicated site listed for one trial in one country. Participant allocation means the country-level planned participant number reported in the geography variable. RNA includes trials matched to mRNA or Other RNA modality tags. Phase I–II cohort includes records from Phase I and Phase II files, deduplicated by trial code where Phase I/II trials appear in both files.