India Expected to Draw More Clinical Trials by 2012

Even though there are several reports indicating the trend of outsourcing clinical trails to India, trials conducted in India only represent two percent of the worldwide total according to this article in Fierce Biotech.

The research group RNCOS also expects the number to surge to 5 percent by 2012 as more companies look to conduct low-cost trials in India. According to RNCO,

"companies can cut up to 30 to 40 percent time required to complete various phases of clinical trials choosing India as the outsourcing destination."

Take a look at RNCO’s full release here.

Insurance and clinical trials

In a recent article at Pharma Exec, they look at the growing trend of making sure patients around the world are insured should they become injured during a clinical trial. Although regulations are different from country to country, those countries with no regulation for insurance for a clinical trial patient are limiting what a CRO can do. There have been a number of attempts to standardize clinical trial regulations across the globe, including the Good Clinical Practice Standards.

For an in-depth look at this story, read the article here.

RNCOS: India Most Economical Destination for Global Clinical Trials

According to research at RNCOS, India is one of the most economical destinations for conducting global clinical trials. Their research shows that substantial amounts can be saved in India on both staff and utilities. For instance, the salary of a clinical research associate is only 13% of that in the US and 17% and 19% as that in the UK and Germany respectively. Similarly, the cost of a biostatistician in India is only 15%, 18% and 17% as that in the US, UK and Germany respectively. Companies also save substantially on utilities and land while setting up their operations in India. For more information on RNCOS research, please click here.

Will India prove to be the premier destination for global clinical trials in this economic climate? What does your company to do compete with the relatively low cost of companies utilizing India's resources? Post your thoughts here or on our LinkedIn group.

Merck and PPD Partner in Outsourcing Deal

Clinical Trials Today reports that CRO PPD has entered into a strategic collaboration with Merck to expand its global laboratory business. Under the agreement, PPD will have access to Merck’s 130,000 square foot facility in Wayne, PA as well as 80 employees who will operate there.

In return, PPD will provide Merck with range of assay development and immunogenicity testing services as well as traditional central laboratory and sample storage services over the next five years. This is the beginning of a trend of strategic agreements we have seen between CROs and big pharma. We have seen this in August 2008 when Covance partnered with Eli Lilly in a $1.6 billion contract research deal.

Will we see this trend continue between CROs and big pharma in 2009?

Brazil is critical base for PPD's CROs efforts

ClinPage recently featured some of the CROs that are dominant in the Brazil market. With over 300 employees in the region and at any given time 150 trials running, PPD, a Wilmington, North Carolina-basd company, dominates the region. They entered Brazil in 1995 when they bought Q&Q Suporte a Pesquisa Clinica, the first established CRO in Brazil. From there, PPD grew organically and spread through other countries in Latin America such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

For more on PPD, read the article here.

India Offers More Education for Clinical Research

Offering a 6 month certificate program in Clinical Research, Bilcare Research Academy in Bengaluru, India will aim to educate more Indians in Clinical Research to further advance their country's rise as a world leader in clinical research. We've reported on India before and we're keeping our finger on the pulse of this nation's advancements. What news do you have to share? What do you think clinical research will be like in 1, 10 or 20 years? We appreciate your input.

For more information on this program, please click here.

Ethical Guidelines in India

I came across this presentation from Ubio on slideshare that outlines general ethical guidelines to be followed when conducting clinical trials, especially overseas. Take a couple of moments to review it.

Ethical Guidelines for Clinical Research - India and the World

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: research clinical)