COVID-19 trials: declarations of data sharing intentions at trial registration and at publication

The sharing of individual participant-level data from COVID-19 trials would allow re-use and secondary analysis that can help accelerate the identification of effective treatments. The sharing of trial data is not the norm, but the unprecedented pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 may serve as an impetus for greater data sharing. We sought to assess the data sharing intentions of interventional COVID-19 trials as declared in trial registrations and publications.

We searched ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed for COVID-19 interventional trials. We analyzed responses to ClinicalTrials.gov fields regarding intent to share individual participant level data and analyzed the data sharing statements in eligible publications.

Nine hundred twenty-four trial registrations were analyzed. 15.7% were willing to share, of which 38.6% were willing to share immediately upon publication of results. 47.6% declared they were not willing to share. Twenty-eight publications were analyzed representing 26 unique COVID-19 trials. Only seven publications contained data sharing statements; six indicated a willingness to share data whereas one indicated that data was not available for sharing.

At a time of pressing need for researchers to work together to combat a global pandemic, intent to share individual participant-level data from COVID-19 interventional trials is limited.