Online clinical trials portal gives access to global info
Information about clinical trials contained on a website established by the ABPI (Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry), as well as that on websites of leading UK-based pharmaceutical companies, are now available through a global industry-organised online Clinical Trials Portal. Established by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), it is the first Internet search engine specifically designed to link to available online information about worldwide clinical trials.
The global pharmaceutical industry announced earlier this year that it would make available information on all clinical trials being performed to determine a medicine's therapeutic benefit, as well as results of all industry-sponsored clinical trials on a medicine that has been approved for marketing, and which evaluate its safety and benefit.
'It was a significant step forward to agree that information on international trials should be publicly available, and it is a further sign of our commitment to greater transparency that this portal - that enables doctors, patients and others with interests in new medicines to carry out searches in particular areas quickly and easily - has been established,' said Dr Richard Barker, director general, ABPI.
The ABPI has had its own website listing clinical trial results since 2003, while other UK companies have also published results on their own websites, all of which will now be accessible through the IFPMA portal, which can be found at www.ifpma.org/clinicaltrials.