The difficult road ahead for clinical trials in India

Though India makes up 16% of the world's population and 20% of the world's disease burden, less than 1.4% of global clinical trials are carried out in the country. Of 236,329 ongoing global clinical studies, only 3,016 studies are being done in India, placing it way behind the USA, Europe, Japan, China, Malaysia and Taiwan, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

The low number ranks India in the fifth position in Asia. While clinical trials in South Asia contribute to 3,642 studies, Afghanistan contributes 18, Bangladesh 248, with 2 in Bhutan, 71 in Nepal, 348 in Pakistan and 51 in Sri Lanka, data from the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) showed.

At a recent meet, officials said more research was also needed to address the unique needs of rare disease patients in India, where an estimated 70 million people suffer from ailments such as Leishmaniasis, Norrie Disease, arthrogryposis, cystic fibrosis, Wilson disease, etc, many of which still do not have any cure and are mostly genetic in nature.