Successful conference on clinical trials

An international conference organized by Health Action International (HAI) and Public Eye in Geneva in September 2016 provided a forum for renowned experts to exchange views on the ethical issues involved and the lack of transparency in clinical trials. Such questions are still too seldom discussed. The international interest was correspondingly high, with around 100 representatives from NGOs, authorities, universities, the medical profession, the media or the pharmaceutical industry in attendance.

Renowned international experts spoke at the conference on four priority themes:

  • Ethics and the globalization of clinical trials
  • Data transparency and access
  • Evidence required before marketing authorization and fast-tracked procedures such as the “adaptive pathways” introduced in the EU
  • Alternatives for biomedical research geared towards public health needs

The often inadequate and selective data released on clinical trials was intensely discussed. Full transparency on clinical trials should be “the rule and not the exception,” demanded Patrick Durisch, expressing his hope that the conference would act as a “wake-up call for more stringent regulations of clinical trials”. 

Conference documents

Agenda

Presentations

 Globalisation of clinical trials and ethics 

 Transparence and access to data

 Marketing authorisation & adaptive Pathways

Way forward to a needs-driven biomedical research 

Clinical Drug Trials: Conference Report 2016

Report Public Eye, Health Action International (2016)