The successful transition of preclinical findings into clinical practice is a big challenge. Preclinical confirmatory studies have been designed to address failed clinical trials and their economic, social, and ethical implications. In Germany, 17 studies were supported in the funding call, which confirmed exploratory findings in various areas of biomedical research in a multi-laboratory setting. In addition, a meta-research project was funded for methodological support and collective review of the design and results. After the first four-year period, project representatives met at a workshop to discuss the lessons learned. They summarized common pitfalls and proposed strategies to optimize experimental setup and project coordination. They advocate new roles for preclinical research coordinators, improved rules and regulations for large-scale academic projects. They emphasize the need for collaboration between different parties to integrate confirmatory multi-laboratory studies into preclinical research.