Costs Are Too Much for a Drug Trial Center in Indianapolis

This article in the Indy Star reports that the Lilly Center for Medical Science will end clinical trials in Indianapolis later on this year. Many drugs that treat diabetes and depression grew out of research from the Lilly Center, but now early stage – Phase 1 trials in the United States are no longer cost-effective, and so most companies have begun to outsource their clinical trials.

Lilly is not getting out of early-stage drug trials altogether, but it has created a partnership with Covance in which they will conduct majority of the trials elsewhere. Covance already does preclinical toxicology testing for Lilly, but now it will conduct several more clinical trials. Working more closely with Covance will allow Lilly to get drugs out to the market faster and cheaper than before.