The drug trial industry which was Rs.800 crore just three years back is now a worth of Rs.5,000 crore. Though clinical trials (CT) carried out in India are not recognized by many developed countries like USA, many of the foreign companies prefer to conduct trials in India.
This is because the clinical trials which are proven successful are redone in the developed nations to get quick approval. The failed trials are left midway, leaving the volunteers in the country to suffer. The other reasons why CT industry is emerging rapidly in the country are, availability of highly qualified technical workforce, low operational costs, easy availability of volunteers and no strict drug control system.
According to WHO, Pakistan and India are the preferred destinations for drug trials. It has also pointed out that, though emerging of this industry in good for India; it is associated with very serious concerns, due to lack of proper regulation of private trials and improper procedure to take informed consent and lack of proper ethics review. In spite of strict guidelines provided by Indian Council for Medical Research, most of the clinical trial firms don’t consider the compensations mechanism.
Source: Deccan Chronicle