AusBiotech marks Clinical Trials Day with call for action

Marking International Clinical Trials Day 2012 (May 20), Australian biotech industry trade group AusBiotech has called on the government to complete the Clinical Trials Action Group (CTAG) change program, to strengthen Australian’s position as a destination for clinical trials.

Reflecting on the annual awareness day to note the importance of clinical trials around the globe, clinical trials are pivotal to the biotechnology sector in Australia and thought to be worth A$450 million ($443.9 million) annually in investment, spill-over benefits and savings, said Aus Biotech.

Anna Lavelle, chief executive of AusBiotech, said: “Australia is in competition with many other countries to secure trials and needs to improve its governance, ethics approval processes and costs to secure a significant improvement.” The comment came just after the pharma trade body Medicines Australia highlighted KPMG research showing that Australia is the world’s second most expensive location to conduct clinical trials (The Pharma Letter May 22).