Paid clinical trials compensate healthy volunteers and patients for time, travel, and inconvenience — and the payouts can be substantial, from a few hundred dollars for an overnight stay to several thousand for a multi-phase study. The catch is finding legitimate studies and understanding what you are signing up for. Here is how to do it safely.
Where to Find Legitimate Paid Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov (clinicaltrials.gov) — the US government's registry of nearly every registered trial; search by condition, location, and recruiting status.
- ResearchMatch (researchmatch.org) — a nonprofit registry connecting volunteers with researchers across academic institutions.
- CenterWatch (centerwatch.com) — maintains a directory of clinical trials and a list of actively recruiting studies.
- Labcorp Drug Development (labcorp.com) — formerly Covance, runs paid healthy-volunteer studies at clinics nationwide.
- PPD (ppd.com) — a Thermo Fisher company that recruits volunteers for early-phase trials.
- IQVIA (iqvia.com) — a global clinical research organization with paid study sites.
- ICON plc (iconplc.com) — recruits healthy volunteers and patient populations for clinical studies.
- Parexel (parexel.com) — operates clinical research units that compensate volunteers.
- Syneos Health (syneoshealth.com) — runs paid early-phase and patient studies.
- Premier Research (premierresearch.com) — recruits for pediatric and adult clinical trials.
- Altus Research (altusresearch.com) — a Florida-based site running dermatology and women's-health studies.
- FTC Clinical Research (ftcresearch.com) — conducts paid trials in dermatology and other specialties.
What to Know Before You Sign Up
Eligibility is strict — studies define exact age, health, and medication criteria, and screening can take weeks. Overnight inpatient studies pay the most but require you to stay at the clinic. Always confirm a study is IRB-approved (the registry listing shows this), read the informed consent fully, and never pay to join a trial — legitimate studies pay you, not the other way around.