Phase III Clinical Trials

Psych Central recently wrote a post about why Phase III trials may often be misleading. At this stage, the clinical trial has to prove that the drug is both safe and effective. However, the article points out that oftentimes, Phase III trials are conducted on patients that may not be the consumers of the product in normal circumstances. Read the full article here. What do you think? If clinical trials are conducted on those who are not the preferred profile for the drug, will the results still be completely reliable?

Clincal Trials in India

The Indian government recently has given the okay for phase I human clinical trials to be performed in India. This has led many to expect that the Contract Research Organization Industry, in India, will grow from being worth $200 million in 2007 to an estimated $600 million by 2010. There is one thing that could be preventing this estimate from coming true as remarked upon in this article. As Dr. S M Sapatnekar, dean and director of CREMA stated:

“The technology is constantly growing, and India is fast becoming a new hub for trials due to large patient population and strict compliance with the guidelines. However there is a serious dearth of researchers”

As an Ernst and Young report pointed out, 1000 students each year pass as researchers in India, however, by 2010 to keep up with demand, they will need 15,000 clinical researchers.