After years of declines, the pharmaceutical industry is experiencing a greater rate of success with its clinical trials in recent years, according to a new analysis. Between 2012 and 2014, more than 11 percent of clinical trials succeeded, which meant compounds being tested survived the arduous journey from the laboratory to the pharmacy counter. This reversed a downward trend seen over the past 20 years, according to executives at McKinsey & Co., the consulting firm that conducted the analysis and does consulting work for drug makers. Between 1996 and 1999, the cumulative success rate was 16.4 percent, but gradually began declining in subsequent years. From 2000 to 2003, 10.8 percent of trials succeeded before falling to 10 percent between 2004 and 2007, and then bottoming out at just 7.5 percent between 2008 and 2011. The analysis, which was published last month in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, examined more than 9,200 novel compounds that were developed from 1996 through 2014. https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2016/06/13/clinical-trials-drug-development/
Given that the industry does not tend to actually reveal the results of trials, that studies are often spun in ways to change outcomes, and that companies manipulate the standards that get a drug from one stage in trials to the next, this information is not particularly valuable. Anyone interested in the problems surrounding drug trials is urged to read "Bad Pharma" by Ben Goldacre or at least look into AllTrials. http://www.alltrials.net/
