Trend Of Outsourcing Trials to China, India Raises New Ethics Questions
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
The trend by multinational pharmaceutical companies conducting clinical trials in China, India and other nations with emerging economies may be upsetting accepted ethics of trials. Viral Genetics, a U.S. biotech, came under criticism when it conducted a trial of an AIDS drug in China by giving a control group a placebo instead of antiretrovirals, the accepted trial behavior in the Western World. Chinese authorities investigated after several AIDS patients died during the trial, and concluded "no serious violation of ethical principles." That incident highlights increasing concerns over quality, research ethics and lives of patients in outsourced trials. (Click here for more - may require a subscription