Clinical trials represent a new chance for Hungarian patients

On the occasion of the International Clinical Trials Day last week, Hungary’s Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (AIPM) finds it important to call attention again to the value creating effect of clinical research representing a new chance for tens of thousands of patients every year in Hungary.

Nowadays, the promising development of more than 7,000 new active ingredients is in progress, nearly 1,800 of which aim to provide a more efficient treatment for various cancers, 600 for cardiovascular diseases, and 1,200 for communicable diseases. When developing a new medicinal product, one of the most important phases is that of the clinical trials: developing a new active ingredient takes 12 years on average, and costs at least 300 billion forints ($1.03 billion), almost 60% of which can be attributed to clinical trials. Thanks to the innovative therapies, over the past decades life expectancy in the EU has increased by 10 years, and the number of deaths caused by cancer and HIV infection decreased by about 20 and 80 percent, respectively.

In the countries of the European Economic Area, 4,000 clinical trials are approved every year, almost 10% of which took place in Hungary back in 2015. However, due to the increasing competition in the region, the number of new clinical research conducted in our country decreased by almost 20% in recent years.