If your CRO gives you a list of Brazilian sites and you've never looked under the hood, this is the reference. These are the 20 centers with the most active industry-sponsored, actively-recruiting clinical trials in Brazil right now — the core infrastructure your protocol will be deciding among. Center rankings are drawn directly from ClinicalTrials.gov facility-level data, deduplicated across accent, punctuation, and naming variants (so that "Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre" and "Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre" count once, not twice).
A note on the "Undisclosed site" entry
Our scan returned one entry above every named center: "Undisclosed site (sponsor-blinded)" with 127 active trials. This is not a physical facility. It reflects the ClinicalTrials.gov convention where sponsors running multi-site protocols can elect to anonymize their Brazilian sites at submission time — typically for competitive-intelligence reasons, occasionally for patient-confidentiality reasons in rare-disease trials.
127 trials reporting their Brazilian site as "undisclosed" is a substantial share of the market and it means that public-data rankings of Brazilian sites necessarily undercount activity. A center that appears on our list with 30 active trials may in fact be running 35-40 when the undisclosed-site contributions are distributed back. That matters for competitive-intelligence work but doesn't change the practical ranking below — the same handful of centers dominate disclosed and undisclosed activity.
The ranking that follows excludes the undisclosed entry and counts only named facilities.
The top 20 (by named-facility active trial count, Q2 2026)
Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA)
Federal teaching hospital affiliated with UFRGS. The single most-utilized industry trial site in Brazil, across oncology, hematology, neurology, rare disease, IBD, rheumatology, endocrinology, and pediatric genetics. If your protocol fits any mainstream or rare-disease indication, HCPA is usually the first Brazilian site on the CRO's list. Strong neurogenetics and rare-disease aggregation through the Serviço de Genética Médica — one of the oldest in Latin America.
Fundação Faculdade Regional de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP)
High-volume teaching-hospital system in the São Paulo state interior. Cardiovascular, metabolic, oncology, and rare-disease trials run here at meaningful volume. The Hospital de Base de São Jose do Rio Preto is the principal clinical site within the FAMERP system; it also appears separately in our rankings.
Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS
PUCRS-affiliated private-academic hospital. Broad coverage across neurology (MS, migraine), IBD, dermatology, rare disease, and metabolic. Frequently paired with HCPA for Porto Alegre-region Phase 3 activations; together with HCPA and Moinhos de Vento, Hospital São Lucas anchors the Porto Alegre academic cluster that punches far above its metro size in national trial share.
Liga Norte Riograndense Contra O Câncer
Regional cancer-reference center for the Brazilian northeast. The largest single-facility oncology trial footprint outside São Paulo and Porto Alegre. Strong solid-tumor and hematologic-oncology recruitment; the center's aggregation of patients across RN, PB, CE, and PE makes it a recruitment anchor for multinational cancer programs targeting geographic representativeness.
Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre
Historic teaching hospital — the oldest in Rio Grande do Sul. Strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, and oncology clinical research programs. Complements HCPA and Hospital São Lucas in the Porto Alegre cluster and is frequently listed as a parallel site on Rio Grande do Sul Phase 3 activations.
Hospital Moinhos de Vento
Private-sector academic hospital with a robust clinical-research institute. Neuroimaging, hepatology, cardiology, and hematology are particular strengths. Moinhos is often paired with HCPA on the same protocol: HCPA for SUS-patient reach, Moinhos for parallel activation speed and private-insurance patient access.
Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz
Private-academic hybrid in central São Paulo. Strong presence across oncology, IBD, rheumatology, hepatology, and neurology. Historical participation in multinational programs from Janssen, AbbVie, Takeda, Roche. One of the São Paulo metro's go-to sites when a sponsor wants academic research quality with private-hospital activation speed.
Fundação Pio XII — Hospital de Câncer de Barretos
One of the largest cancer-dedicated hospitals in Latin America. Treats tens of thousands of new cancer cases per year from across Brazil's interior. Industry oncology trial presence across solid tumors and hematologic oncology; a recruitment anchor for any multinational oncology program targeting Brazilian geographic representativeness and treatment-naïve cohorts.
Integral Pesquisa e Ensino
Specialized clinical-research center in the São Paulo region, focused on dermatology, allergy/immunology, and selected metabolic programs. Example of the Brazilian private-research-center model — not a full-service hospital, but with the investigator bench and patient-recruitment channels to deliver on dermatology and allergy-focused protocols at speed.
Ruschel Medicina e Pesquisa Clínica
Private clinical-research organization running multi-site protocols across metabolic, cardiology, rheumatology, and dermatology. Another example of the Brazilian private-research model — dedicated trial staff, streamlined contracting, high responsiveness on activation. Often selected as a parallel-activation site to speed up a protocol that also has academic-center arms.
CEPIC — Centro Paulista de Investigação Clínica
Dedicated clinical-research center in São Paulo with deep track record in metabolic, cardiology, rheumatology, and dermatology. Operates on the private-research-center model: smaller than an academic hospital, but focused, fast-moving, and well-known to major CROs.
Hospital Erasto Gaertner
Paraná's principal cancer-reference hospital. Strong solid-tumor and hematologic-oncology trial presence. Curitiba is Brazil's fifth-largest metro by trial volume (166 city-level records); Erasto Gaertner anchors the oncology share.
CEDOES
Private clinical-research center in Vitória serving Espírito Santo and the surrounding region. Multi-therapeutic-area activity across metabolic, cardiology, and dermatology. One of the largest clinical-research operations outside the São Paulo / Porto Alegre / Curitiba axis.
Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Federal public hospital complex (Grupo Hospitalar Conceição) in Porto Alegre. Adds additional SUS-integrated patient reach to the RS cluster; strong cardiology and pulmonology programs; often a parallel site alongside HCPA on cardiovascular and respiratory protocols.
Hospital Sírio-Libanês
Premier private hospital in São Paulo with strong oncology, hematology, neurology, and hepatology research units. The Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa is the principal research arm. Known for fast activation and a strong investigator bench; particularly active in oncology and neuro-oncology multinationals.
Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Belo Horizonte
Principal academic hospital in Belo Horizonte. Anchors Minas Gerais's 75-trial state-level share. Strong cardiovascular, oncology, and nephrology trial activity. Geographic reach into the Minas Gerais interior is often a strategic draw for cardiovascular-outcome-trial sponsors wanting geographic representativeness beyond São Paulo metro.
Chronos Pesquisa Clínica
Private-research-center model. Strong dermatology, rheumatology, and metabolic activity. Used by sponsors seeking rapid enrollment on mid-size Phase 2/3 protocols where private-research-center throughput matters more than academic prestige.
Hospital de Base de São José do Rio Preto
Principal clinical site in the FAMERP system. Counted separately from FAMERP in ClinicalTrials.gov data because of site-naming variance in sponsor submissions. Combined with the FAMERP Foundation listing, the São José do Rio Preto cluster represents one of the largest single-metro trial footprints in São Paulo state's interior (120 city-level records).
Hospital Mãe de Deus
Private-academic hospital in Porto Alegre with cardiology, oncology, and orthopedic research programs. Extends the Porto Alegre cluster; often a parallel-activation site on programs also running at HCPA, Moinhos de Vento, or Hospital São Lucas.
What the rankings reveal
- Porto Alegre punches enormously above its population. Seven of the top 20 centers are in Porto Alegre or the Rio Grande do Sul region (HCPA, São Lucas PUCRS, Santa Casa POA, Moinhos de Vento, Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Hospital Mãe de Deus, plus the Ijuí / Passo Fundo / Novo Hamburgo satellite centers that don't make the top-20 cut). Combined, the POA cluster runs ~200 of Brazil's 582 active industry trials — more than 30% of the country's trial footprint through 5% of its population.
- The São Paulo metro's trial share is diffused across many sites. São Paulo state holds 252 trials and São Paulo city alone accounts for 454 city-level trial-site records — more than any other Brazilian city — but that volume spreads across Oswaldo Cruz, Sírio-Libanês, HC-FMUSP (which appears under multiple sub-facility names in ClinicalTrials.gov), UNIFESP, CEPIC, Integral, and more. No single São Paulo site dominates the way HCPA dominates Porto Alegre.
- Private-research-center model is genuinely material. CEPIC, Integral, Ruschel, Chronos, and CEDOES together run 60+ active trials — more than 10% of the national footprint from a group of dedicated clinical-research organizations with no inpatient hospital function. For sponsors with Phase 2 or early Phase 3 protocols, the private-research-center option is a legitimate alternative to the academic-hospital default.
- The north and northeast are under-represented but growing. Liga Norte Riograndense (Natal) and CEDOES (Vitória) are the only top-20 sites outside the south and southeast. Salvador (170 city-level records) and Recife (72) run meaningful trial volume but no single Salvador or Recife site cracks the top 20 — activity distributes across a broader set of smaller centers.
Hospitals not in our top 20 that matter
Centers with 10 or fewer active trials in Q2 2026 but substantial historical significance: HC-FMUSP (São Paulo — appears under multiple ClinicalTrials.gov sub-facility names, making single-facility ranking difficult), Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA, Rio), Hospital Albert Einstein (São Paulo — strong Alzheimer's and neuroimaging capacity), Instituto Dante Pazzanese (São Paulo — cardiology reference), Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto (USP Ribeirão), and UNICAMP Campinas. These don't show up in our facility-count top-20 because their industry-trial footprint is currently below our cutoff, but for specific protocols they can be the right site choice.
How to use this list
For sponsors evaluating Brazilian sites, this list is a starting point, not a finishing one. The right site shortlist for your protocol depends on your indication, comparator, enrollment target, and timeline — not on absolute trial volume. A center running 53 active trials may be the worst choice for your program if 8 of those are competing-mechanism protocols that will cap your investigator's patient pool. A center running 12 active trials may be perfect if none compete.
That's the feasibility-memo work we do. Send us your protocol synopsis and we'll return a Brazil-specific site shortlist with competing-trial overlap flagged.
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