TEHRAN – An analysis of GlobalData’s Clinical Trials Database shows that over the course of the last ten years or so, Iran has consistently been a leader in terms of the number of Phase III clinical trials carried out in women’s health.

According to the analysis which was published on Friday, Iran’s dominance in women’s health is spread comprehensively across indications, with more clinical trials than any other country.

The analysis only included planned, active, or completed trials, excluding those that had been withdrawn, terminated, or suspended. Active trials per year for Iran ranged from 58 in 2015 to 115 in 2019, with the next highest trials per year for a country being the U.S. in 2016 at 22 trials.

Iran’s dominance in this therapy area is spread fairly comprehensively across many indications, with more trials than any other country in most indications.

However, the overall data is possibly skewed by an overwhelming lead in Phase III trials for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), with Iran carrying out more than double the number of trials as all other countries combined. 

PCOS is difficult to diagnose, generally under-researched, and can lead to infertility or other serious health conditions such as coronary heart disease.

Many Iranian trial sites have focused on the effect of various supplements on those with PCOS. In other indications such as pre-eclampsia and endometriosis, while not as large a majority, it is still undoubtedly Iran that leads the area of research.