Russia: The Mirage of Swiss Clinical Trials

Parallel drug trials on humans are often carried out in different countries at the same time. Prompted by strategic and financial considerations, companies are increasingly transferring their clinical trials to developing countries and (in particular) emerging nations. This is true of all the large corporations, including Swiss enterprises such as Roche, Novartis and Actelion. This "globalisation" of clinical trials goes hand in hand with serious breaches of ethics which, moreover, occur in an environment that is very far from transparent.