According to the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency's (TİTCK) current statistics presentation, the number of clinical trial applications in Türkiye rose to an all-time record of 706 in 2025 — a 48% increase over seven years. Even more striking is the shift in composition: 2025 was the first year in which the academic share of applications moved ahead of the commercial (industry) share (51% to 49%). This post assembles the full 2019-2025 series, a reading of the trend, and the implications for sponsors.
Year Applications Year-on-year change Commercial (industry) Academic 2019 476 — 62% 38% 2020 483 +1.5% 62% 38% 2021 598 +23.8% 67% 33% 2022 629 +5.2% 60% 40% 2023 685 +8.9% 55% 45% 2024 649 −5.3% 58% 42% 2025 706 +8.8% 49% 51%Source: TİTCK, Clinical Trial Statistics (2019-2025). The presentation's "commercial/academic" split reflects applications by sponsor type; it is given here unified as "commercial (industry)".
What does the seven-year series tell us?
Three links in the series stand out. The +23.8% jump in 2021 was the sharpest rise on record; it is known that COVID-19 vaccine research intensified globally in this period — but the presentation offers no explanation for the jump, so we note the connection only as context. 2023 (685) marked the peak of that era; 2024 brought a 5.3% pull-back, the series' only annual decline. 2025 then broke the record at 706, showing that the 2024 dip was cyclical: compound annual growth across 2019-2025 ran at approximately 6.8%.
The cumulative growth in application volume also means a change of scale on the ecosystem side: a total of 4,226 applications were filed between 2019 and 2025. Every application starts a full value chain — ethics committee review, Agency assessment, site and investigator sourcing, and field operations — so a 48% growth in volume means the capacity of every link in that chain has been tested in parallel.
2025's real story: the academic crossover
The real transformation in the distribution table lies on the horizontal axis. While academic applications stood at 38% in 2019, the share climbed to 45% in 2023 and 51% in 2025 — a seven-year high, and the first time the academic share crossed the halfway mark. The series' highest commercial share (67%) was recorded in 2021.
What does this reading mean? Investigator-initiated and institutional (university/hospital) sponsored trials in Türkiye are forming a more stable base than the fluctuations of global industry portfolios. As the academic ecosystem's capacity to turn its own research questions into protocols grows, the annual fluctuation in commercial applications (67% in 2021 → 55% in 2023 → 49% in 2025) also reveals sensitivity to global portfolio decisions.
Five takeaways for sponsors
1. Site and investigator competition is here to stay. The cumulative effect of 706 annual applications means capacity at qualified trial centres and experienced investigators is being reserved tighter year after year. Locking site selection early in start-up planning and keeping a broad alternate-site list is no longer good practice — it is a requirement.
2. Academic partnership is the access key. In an academically weighted ecosystem, partnerships with university hospitals and research associations open both enrolment channels and investigator relationships. In industry-sponsored trials, the academic partner model (investigator-initiated studies, association registries, natural history cohorts) is a strategic tool in this picture.
3. Timeline discipline in Agency and ethics committee processes. As volume grows, so does the load on assessment channels. Even though the regulation's review timelines (for instance the twelve and twenty-two working-day benchmarks at the ethics committee and the Agency for clinical trial applications) remain fixed, submitting a complete file the first time becomes even more valuable.
4. Türkiye is more visible in portfolio decisions. The record year also reflects the general direction of Türkiye's share in multinational protocols; data on the country's assessment of participation and start-up speed is compiled in our Türkiye regulatory hub. The full current legislation is available in our legislation library.
5. Following the data series is a planning discipline. Single-year figures can mislead; after 2024's decline, 2025's record showed that those tracking the series could plan without panic. The next update of this series should be an input to 2026 strategy budgets.
What to keep in mind about these figures
The presentation reports application counts: not approvals, ongoing studies, or completions. Evaluation processes sit between application and approval, and the percentage split reflects all applications by sponsor type. Absolute numbers matter more than percentages — both categories may have grown or shrunk in any given year.
Frequently asked questions
How many clinical trial applications were filed in 2025? 706 according to TİTCK statistics — a 48% increase over 2019's 476 and a series record.
Why does the academic share matter? The rise of investigator- and institution-sponsored applications to 51% shows the Turkish ecosystem's capacity to generate its own research agenda; it directly shapes sponsors' site and partnership strategy.
What explains the 2024 decline? The presentation gives no reason. Global industry portfolio decisions and the prior year's high base are plausible contexts; 2025's record shows the decline was not structural.
Where can I follow this data? TİTCK publishes its statistics regularly; you can follow all national legislation and current documents in our legislation library, and Türkiye's regulatory framework in our regulatory hub. For the current state of the rare disease ecosystem, read our Summit-2026 report digest.
Source: TİTCK (Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency), Clinical Trial Statistics (2019-2025), August 2026 update. Figures are taken from the presentation's chart series.