Drug Industry Taking Bigger Role in Clinical Cancer Trials [Video]

Key Takeaways

Pharmaceutical companies are shouldering an increasing role in funding cancer clinical trialsResearchers called on the federal government to step up its investment in cancer researchThey said government-funded research often reach a more diverse set of patients

TUESDAY, Oct. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Clinical trials sponsored by Big Pharma enrolled eight times as many patients as U.S.-government trials did between 2018 and 2022, new research shows.

The study — conducted by researchers at Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle — underscores the lack of investment in federally funded studies and a growing reliance on industry research. The magnitude of the gap researchers identified took them by surprise.

“We recognized that industry was playing an increasing role in cancer clinical research compared to decades ago,” said lead study author Joseph Unger, a health services researcher and biostatistician at Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle. “But we didn’t realize the difference was this dramatic.”

The study, which relied on data from …