As the regulatory authority in Japan removed the ban on carrying recruitment advertisements of clinical trials, we often see full-page advertisements being carried on leading national papers.

A variety of advertising media including papers, websites, radio/TV broadcast are available for recruitment advertisements of clinical trials and disease education programs. The aims of these advertisements are: 1) to invite likely participants in clinical trials direct via advertising media, and 2) to look for potential patients through recruiting advertisements and encourage those who otherwise would not have recognized his/her disease to participate in clinical trials or treatment programs.

Due to its prematurity, the emerging business still remains unclear about "Which media and which method are used?": "Who are the target audience?": and "What is its cost efficiency like?"

This report provides findings of the survey conducted with pharmaceutical companies, medical organization representatives, and contracted advertising agents such as CROs and websites as the respondents, describing the current status of clinical trials advertisements in Japan and financial benefits generated by them.