[Notice - March 19, 2026]

NOTICE OF SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE – ReBEC

Please be advised that the ReBEC system will undergo a scheduled maintenance outage, beginning at 6:00 p.m. on March 20, 2026 (Friday) and expected to end at 6:00 p.m. on March 22, 2026 (Sunday).

During this period, the system will be unavailable for access and for performing any operations. This measure is necessary to implement improvements and updates aimed at ensuring greater stability, security, and performance of the platform.

We recommend that users plan ahead to avoid any potential disruptions to their activities.

Thank you for your understanding.
ReBEC Coordination

PRIORITY SERVICES

The Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC) presents the new fast tracks for clinical research and observational studies on INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES and on NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES (NTDs). Fast-track can reduce the normal approval period for clinical trials to less than 48 hours, if the documentation, information and any mandatory changes requested are provided by the registrant.

The already existing fast-tracks and the attendance to other studies will not be interrupted. Priority care is granted with a view to accelerating clinical research in epidemiological emergency situations and/or studies with the potential to reduce socioeconomic inequalities, keeping the perspective aligned with the forefront of ethics and transparency, diplomacy in health, scientific collaboration and diversity and specificities of recruitment and health care.

FAST-TRACKS IN OPERATION:

I - Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Communities, Human Migration and Refugee Movements – clinical research and observational studies dedicated to or preferably addressing traditional communities (quilombola, caiçara, faxinalense, among others), Indigenous peoples (within or outside legally demarcated territories), and refugee groups, taking into account the specificities established by regulation, on a case-by-case basis.

II - Neglected Tropical Diseases – Leprosy, Tuberculosis, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Scabies, Chagas disease, Intestinal parasitoses, Viral hepatitis, Trachoma, Onchocerciasis, Human rabies transmitted by dogs.

III - National and International Public Health Emergencies – Mpox, Covid-19.

IV - Arboviruses – Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, Malaria, Yellow fever.

V - WHO Prioritized Pathogens for Latin America – Studies dealing with World Health Organization prioritized pathogens for Latin America, as listed in the document "PATHOGENS PRIORITIZATION - A SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK FOR EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC RESEARCH PREPAREDNESS" (Health Emergencies Programme, 2024) – Lassa fever, Cholera, Black Death (Plague), Bacillary dysentery or Shigellosis, Salmonella, Pneumonia, Urinary tract infection, MERS-CoV, SARS, Ebola virus (EVE), Marburg virus (MVE), Ebola virus (EVE) Sudan subtype, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Influenza A H1, Influenza A H2, Influenza A H3, Avian influenza (Influenza A H5N1), Avian influenza (Influenza A H6), Avian influenza H7 (Avian influenza H7), Avian influenza H10 or Avian influenza H10, Nipah disease, Viral hemorrhagic disease, Poliomyelitis, Hand-foot-and-mouth disease, Herpangina, Viral meningitis, Smallpox, Mpox, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE).

VI - WHO Prioritized Prototype Pathogens for Latin America – Studies dealing with World Health Organization prioritized prototype pathogens for Latin America, as listed in the document "PATHOGENS PRIORITIZATION - A SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK FOR EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC RESEARCH PREPAREDNESS" (Health Emergencies Programme, 2024) – Recombinant mastadenovirus, Mastadenovirus blackbeardi serotype 14, Mammarenavirus juninense, Mammarenavirus lujoense, Mamastrovirus virginiaense, Orthobornavirus bornaense, Orthoflavivirus encephalitidis, Orthoflavivirus nilense, Orthohepadnavirus hominoidae genotype C, Paslahepevirus balayani genotype 3, Protoparvovirus carnivoran, Orthobunyavirus oropoucheense, Phlebovirus riftense, Orthopicobirnavirus hominis, Enterovirus alphacoxsackie 71, Enterovirus deconjuncti 68, Metapneumovirus hominis, Orthopoxvirus vaccinia, Genus Vesiculovirus, Genus Rotavirus, Orthoreovirus mammalis.

VII - Studies on the impacts of climate change, the effects of scientific denialism, and health misinformation -The physical, mental, and social consequences of environmental and climate changes on human populations; The impact of extreme weather events and environmental degradation on infectious, chronic, or emerging diseases; The influence of denialist narratives and misinformation in Health on adherence to preventive measures, vaccination, treatments, and risk behaviors, as well as the physical and mental outcomes for human beings and populations.

INSTRUCTIONS:

We recommend reading the Registrant Handbook. Material available at LINK.

1. Register or log in and normally fill out the forms in Portuguese and English. For English, in case of difficulty, use the Google Translate tool (or another free translation tool).
2. Attach the mandatory ethics committee documentation and submit the form.
3. Register the service number on your Whatsapp. Send a message with your name and login. IT IS NOT NECESSARY NOR RECOMMENDED TO SEND YOUR PASSWORD.
4. A reviewer will respond to you. Choose the service modality: chat, audio recordings or voice call by appointment.
5. Your form will be proofread in both languages. Follow the remaining guidelines to finalize the approval.

CONTACTS:

Support is online, via chat, dedicated telephone line (see phone number below) and WhatsApp, from 9 am to 5 pm (Brasília time).

Administrative, priority and/or urgent matters outside office hours: plantao.rebec@gmail.com
Line 1: +55 21 97203-4750

ABOUT REBEC:

The Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC) is a free access virtual platform for recording experimental and non-experimental studies carried out on human beings and conducted in Brazilian territory, by Brazilian and foreign researchers. ReBEC is a joint project of the Ministry of Health (DECIT/MS), the Pan American Health Organization (OPAS) and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ). ReBEC's Executive Committee is composed of the aforementioned institutions and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA).

03/27/2026  |  Todd Neff  |  UCHealth

https://www.uchealth.org/today/does-marijuana-work-as-medicine-clinical-trials-testing-question/ 

New studies question the effectiveness of marijuana to help with most medical conditions. Chronic pain may be an exception, and Colorado researchers are working to see if that’s true.

Study after study is having a hard time finding scientific evidence that marijuana is useful as a medical therapy.

Two recent reports concluded that marijuana doesn’t help with mental health conditions. A November 2025 study in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) considered a wider range of maladies and conditions. Its conclusions didn’t mince words.

“Evidence from randomized clinical trials does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most conditions for which it is promoted,” the authors wrote. “Evidence is insufficient for the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most medical indications.”

Yet 47 states, including Colorado, allow medical marijuana.

So, does marijuana work for medical maladies?

Two University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine researchers who are currently doing three marijuana studies are trying to help answer that question.

The challenge is that medical experts in the U.S. have not been allowed to do the most rigorous, “gold-standard” research that would provide answers about marijuana’s effectiveness to help with health challenges.

“One of the things we’re trying to address through our research is to do the placebo-controlled, randomized studies that help inform further reviews and analyses of clinical effects,” said Dr. Rachael Rzasa Lynn, an associate professor of anesthesiology who cares…

03/27/2026  |   Nick Paul Taylor  |  Fierce Biotech

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/astrazeneca-delivers-dream-result-phase-3-copd-hits-breathe-life-class-rocked-flops 

AstraZeneca’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) candidate has hit the mark in a pair of phase 3 trials, delivering broad efficacy with a mechanism that yielded mixed data for Roche and Sanofi.

The Oberon and Titania trials assessed the effect of AstraZeneca’s anti-IL-33 antibody tozorakimab on the rate of moderate-to-severe COPD exacerbations. Guggenheim Securities analysts called expectations for the program “appropriately low” in a research note last month. Investors’ hopes took a hit after Sanofi and Regeneron’s itepekimab and Roche’s astegolimab, both of which block IL-33 signaling, failed trials.

Amid the skepticism, AstraZeneca has maintained that tozorakimab is a differentiated asset that could deliver peak sales of $3 billion to $5 billion. Friday, the drugmaker backed up its optimism with topline data from the phase 3 Oberon and Titania trials.

Tozorakimab cut the annualised rate of moderate-to-severe COPD exacerbations compared with placebo in the primary population, which was limited to former smokers. AstraZeneca also reported a win in the overall population, including former and current smokers, across all blood eosinophil counts and lung function severity stages. Eosinophils are white blood cells that may add to inflammation.

AstraZeneca said tozorakimab was generally well-tolerated with a favorable safety profile. While all the drugmaker’s topline disclosures are positive, it has yet to share any safety or efficacy data. AstraZeneca plans to release the full data at an upcoming medical meeting. 

The available…

03/26/2026 | Anvisa | Gov.br

https://www.gov.br/anvisa/pt-br/assuntos/noticias-anvisa/2026/anvisa-destaca-lancamento-da-coalizao-global-para-fortalecer-producao-e-acesso-a-tecnologias-contra-a-dengue 

A call for proposals aims to strengthen local and regional capacities for the production and innovation of health products

Global Coalizão para a Produção Local e Regional, Innovação e Acesso Equitativo launched, on the third day (24/3), in Rio de Janeiro, its first call of proposals focused on confronting dengue.

It now seeks to identify and support projects that stimulate the structure of sustainable global networks. The central objective is to guarantee essential technologies — such as vaccines, therapies and diagnostics — for neglected diseases and people in vulnerable conditions, by promoting technological innovation and reducing global inequalities in health access.

Dengue was defined as the priority challenge of this steering committee, given that the goal of the world population is on the brink, with nearly 400 million infections annually on all continents.

Embora o Brasil possua a vacina produzida con Butantan, o country ainda faces critical challenges in relation to production, to the diagnosis and to the treatment of diseases. The international partnerships signed via Coalizão are fundamental to strengthen regional manufacturing and ensure that the supply of health supplies remains resilient, especially in Southern Hemisphere countries.

Sustainability

The sustainability of this strategy, signed from the Geneva Charter of 2025, depends directly on overcoming regulatory asymmetries and on the disconnection between innovation and…

03/26/2026  |  Christopher Rentsch  |  London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/expert-opinion/pregnant-women-can-be-safely-included-clinical-trials-so-why-arent-they

LSHTM’s Associate Professor Christopher Rentsch explains why culture of distrust has led to a crucial evidence gap for pregnant women

Many experts, including myself, share the recent concerns laid out by the British Pharmacological Society, highlighting the urgent need for clearer guidance on the use of medicines during pregnancy and breastfeeding. I also agree that it’s time to include more women in drug trials, capitalising on the significant advances made in recent years which allow us to do this in a safe and effective way. 

Currently, women are understandably anxious about taking medicines when pregnant or breastfeeding. It’s important to stress that this does not mean medicines used in pregnancy or breastfeeding are unsafe. Many medicines have strong safety records and are used safely every day. The challenge is that for some medicines, the evidence base is thinner than we would ideally like, and improving research will help clinicians and patients make more confident decisions.

The issue is longstanding and historically rooted in reasonable concerns that pregnant and breastfeeding women were better protected by excluding them from trials testing medicines. There is a long history of protection through exclusion, shaped by the thalidomide events of the late 1950s. This created a culture that contributed to distrust among some groups of women toward medical research.

This approach has also left a crucial evidence gap within this population, but significant advances in pre-clinical testing, modelling and real-world…

03/26/2026  |  Pia Gray  |  Futura-sciences

https://www.futura-sciences.com/en/a-new-theory-suggests-alzheimers-may-not-be-solely-a-brain-disease_28597/ 

For 30 years, drug companies poured resources into the same hypothesis: clear the beta-amyloid protein from the brain, and Alzheimer's would slow. More than 200 clinical trials later, no treatment has successfully halted the disease. In July 2022, Science magazine reported that a pivotal 2006 Nature study underpinning that hypothesis may have been based on falsified data.

200 clinical trials, no disease modifying treatment
Beta-amyloid became the central target of Alzheimer’s research after a 1992 paper in Nature proposed what became known as the amyloid cascade hypothesis, that beta-amyloid accumulation triggers the disease. Subsequent research piled up supporting the theory. Drug development followed. Yet every major anti-amyloid therapy either failed in clinical trials or, like aducanumab (Aduhelm), received controversial FDA approval in June 2021 before being withdrawn from the market entirely in January 2024 amid safety and efficacy concerns.

Over 200 clinical trials across three decades produced no disease modifying treatment. Though beta-amyloid plaques are present in Alzheimer’s brains, clearing them wasn’t producing the outcomes the hypothesis predicted.

A different model entirely
Dr. Donald Weaver, Director of the Krembil Brain Institute and Professor of Chemistry, Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Toronto, has spent more than 30 years developing an alternative explanation. His model, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia  and recognized with the Oskar Fischer Prize from the University of Texas at San Antonio,…