Medical research increasingly funded by industry

[Guest guest]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - From 1994 to 2003, medical

research funded by pharmaceutical and biotechnology

companies steadily increased and now surpasses

research funded by government or public sources,

according to a review of the most frequently cited

studies.

These findings raise concerns that " academics may be

losing control of the clinical research agenda, "

senior author Dr. P. A. Ioannidis, from the

University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece,

and colleagues note. However, " government and the

public sector still make major contributions to

academic research, despite the rapid increase in

industry sponsorship in areas such as randomized

controlled trials. "

In the new study, reported in the March 17th online

issue of the British Medical Journal, the sponsorship

of 289 articles, identified through a Web of Knowledge

database, was determined.

Seventy-six percent of the studies featured at least

one author with a university affiliation, while 57%

featured at least one with a hospital affiliation.

Both of these proportions were fairly stable

throughout the study period.

Overall, 60% of articles had government or public

funding and 36% were funded by industry. However, this

masks the dramatic rise in industry funding that

occurred over time: in 1994, roughly 30% of articles

were funded by industry compared with over 50% in

2001. Moreover, 65 of the 77 most cited randomized

controlled trials involved industry funding.

" Medical research should reflect public needs more

closely and the efforts of all of those involved

should be better coordinated, " the authors emphasize.

In a related commentary, Dr. n Delaney, from the

University of Birmingham in the UK, notes that " a

decline in public funding for high quality research is

worrying and would ultimately harm patients. However,

recent funding announcements in the UK indicate that

government recognizes this threat, and some correction

of the balance should take place in the coming

decade. "

BMJ 2006.

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