The World Health Organization (WHO) and International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) have issued a joint statement calling on the pharmaceutical industry to increase transparency and access to clinical data for all new medicines and vaccines.
Dr Karla Soares-Weiser, Editor in Chief of The Cochrane Library and Acting CEO of Cochrane, said:
“Cochrane is an advocate for greater clinical trial transparency and supports the statement issued by WHO and ICMRA calling on the pharmaceutical industry to provide wider access to research data for new medicines.
COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of timely access to detailed clinical trial data for building public trust and for assessing the quality of studies. Sharing this information has clear benefits to public health and research integrity.
When trial results are not published, or are overly redacted, the ability to make truly evidence-informed decisions about healthcare is jeopardised. This puts people at risk of harm and contributes to research waste.”
