Frequently asked questions

Your participation in a clinical trial is always voluntary. You can therefore decide to stop at any time. Sometimes you have to stop. For example because of family circumstances or if the doctor decides it is better for your health. If you stop, we will look at what portion of the compensation you are entitled to. It's only fair!

If you do not have a Dutch passport or Dutch identity card, you will need a passport issued by one of the countries that belong to the European Economic Area (EEA). You can also participate with a valid residency permit issued by the Netherlands and a permit to work in the EEA.

During the trial, you may suffer from mild symptoms like headache or nausea. That may be caused by the medication. It might also be caused by needing to fast for the trial, for example. Those side effects are no fun, but fortunately are not dangerous.

Before a medication is tested on people, it has already been studied extensively in a lab. This enables us to predict well which side effects you might get and we can prepare you for them. It almost never happens that participants suffer from unexpected side effects. For example, an allergic reaction to the medication occurs on average once a year.

Many studies are done with healthy participants to test how a new drug behaves in the body. But there are also studies that need people with a certain diagnosis, for example to see if the drug really works for that condition. In that case, you must have a diagnosis from a doctor. The studies always clearly state if they are looking for healthy participants or participants with a diagnosis.

You can participate in a trial a maximum of four times a year. There must be at least 30 days between two trials. Some trials have a longer waiting period.

You cannot participate if you cannot be there on the scheduled dates of stay. But many studies have multiple groups that start at different times. So check to see if there is a group that fits your schedule better. Tip: mark the dates in your calendar as soon as you sign up, so that you are really available if you are selected.

No, participating in drug research is generally not dangerous. The studies are strictly monitored and set up in such a way that your safety always comes first. However, just like with the use of regular medicines, you may experience side effects. These differ per person and per drug, but you are always well informed about this in advance.

Our doctors, investigators and nurses will keep a close eye on you. If they notice something about your health, they will raise the alarm right away. Additionally, every room has an emergency button and as a participant you are given a personal alarm. If you are not feeling well, then the trial stops right away.

For safety reasons, you may only participate in one clinical trial at a time. To check this, we use Verified Clinical Trials (VCT). VCT is an international registration system that records which drug research you are participating in or have participated in, and when that was. It also checks if sufficient time has passed between studies. Participation in the VCT is mandatory; without this approval, you cannot participate in a study.

A healthy participant is someone without serious or chronic conditions, and who is not taking any medications that could affect the study. You don't have to be super fit, but you have to be in good physical and mental health. This is always checked during the medical screening beforehand.

You can take part if you:

• are 18 years or older
• have valid identification
• are registered with a general practitioner
• have health insurance
• are healthy
• have not recently used medicines or addictive substances
• last participated in a clinical trial no less than 30 days ago

If you don't have a Dutch passport or Dutch identification, you need a passport that has been issued by one of the countries belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA). You can also participate with a valid residency permit issued by the Netherlands and a permit to work in the EEA. Before your medical screening, ICON will make a copy of these documents. 

A trial usually involves 5 to 12 participants. The groups are set up so they best match the requirements of the trial. These requirements are described for each trial. View all current trials

That is legally required. By signing the form, you indicate that you have given careful consideration to your participation in the trial, that you fully understand all the information and that you are voluntarily participating in the trial. Even if you have participated before, we must reestablish for each new study that you are healthy, well-informed and participating voluntarily. By doing this we ensure that everything is up-to-date and according to the rules and that you know exactly what you are agreeing into.

When we test a medication on healthy people, we are only studying how the medicine works in the body and whether there are any side effects. A test on patients will follow. In that trial, we look at whether the medicine works for a certain illness or condition.

Some studies require participants to be postmenopausal, infertile, or sterile. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, hormones can affect the research results, making the study less reliable. In addition, we do not want to take any risks with a possible pregnancy or with the fertility of the woman concerned. Because new drugs have not yet been fully studied, we do not know if these could be harmful to an unborn child or to fertility. By setting these conditions, we guarantee the safety of the participants and the quality of the study.

No, you do not get the disease from participating in the study. As a healthy participant, you are never made sick on purpose. You only get the drug that is being studied and that is intended to treat or prevent a disease.

We take blood every day of the trial. You will be fitted with a cannula: an infusion needle that can remain in your vein for an extended time. This means we can take blood but you don't need to keep having a needle inserted every time. Read more about the trial at the research center

No, the compensation pertains to income from labor and must be deposited into the participant's own IBAN number.

Yes, the tax authorities regard the compensation as "income from work." Read more about tax on the compensation here

The amount of the compensation may differ if you do not live in the Netherlands. This depends on the income tax rules in your country. If you meet the conditions, you will receive the full compensation from us as stated on our website. Just like in the Netherlands, you may have to report this amount to the tax authorities in your country and possibly have to repay part of it. It is therefore important that you check how this works in your situation.

The amount of money you receive for your participation in a clinical trial is determined by the duration of the trial. The longer the trial takes, the higher the compensation. But there are also other factors that determine the amount of the compensation awarded, such as special medical procedures.

We pay the compensation for your participation, including travel expenses, within 30 days of the follow-up screening of the trial. If you have questions about the payment, please contact us.

For questions regarding your payment, please send an email to: InfoVolunteerPayments@iconplc.com

Yes, you must report the compensation you receive for participating in a study to the institution that pays your benefits (for example, UWV or the municipality). It can affect the amount of your benefits. Exactly how that works differs per situation. Therefore, always contact your benefits agency so that you know for sure what the impact is.

Yes. Before the drug is examined with radioactivity, it has already been extensively tested on humans in an earlier phase.

During a clinical trial with radioactive-labeled medication, you are exposed to less than 1 mSv. That is less than the radiation you encounter in daily life. Because we want to make sure that we safely perform 14C trials, the study doctor who conducts these trials is also a radiation expert.

We are not studying whether there are side effects. Therefore it is not necessary to administer a high dose, reducing the chance of side effects.

During a clinical trial with radioactive-labeled medication, you are exposed to less than 1 mSv. That is less than the radiation you encounter in daily life. Because we want to make sure that we safely perform 14C trials, the study doctor who conducts these trials is also a radiation expert.

During a clinical trial with radioactive-labeled medication, you are exposed to less than 1 mSv. That is less than the radiation you encounter in daily life. Because we want to make sure that we safely perform 14C trials, the study doctor who conducts these trials is also a radiation expert.

Clinical trials with drugs that are radioactively labeled is mandatory before a new medicine can be registered, and is therefore generally accepted. Radioactively labeling or marking a drug is done to be able to study how quickly and to what extent the drug to be studied is absorbed, converted and excreted in the body.