Industry sponsorship of trials has increased dramatically
Industry sponsorship of clinical trials has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, according to Canadian pharmacists.
The pharmacists, from the University of British Columbia, reviewed 500
randomly selected clinical trials published over the 20 years from 1981
to 2000 in five prominent medical journals —Annals of Internal
Medicine, BMJ, JAMA, The New England Journal
of Medicine and The Lancet.
They found that pharmaceutical industry sponsored trials were common
and had increased over time. Affiliation between authors and industry
sponsors also appeared to be increasing, they add.
In their review, the percentage of trials funded by the industry increased
from 26 per cent in the early 1980s to 62 per cent by 2000. The percentage
of articles written or co-written by pharmaceutical industry employees
increased from 8 per cent in the early 1980s to 66 per cent by 2000 (Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2004;38:579).
However, they acknowledge that observed increases may be due largely
to increased disclosure of drug trial funding, improving transparency.
A commentator advises that the review does not mean industry studies
cannot be trusted. He suggests that the continued increase in studies
with industry support throughout the 1990s reflects an increase in research
budgets by major companies throughout this period (ibid, p714). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal