Implications of Pharmaceutical Industry Funding on Clinical Research

Abstract

This commentary explores the influence of industry funding and offers suggestions for overcoming some of the problems. First, it is difficult to obtain funding from some sources for research with limited commercial value. Second, lack of communication among researchers can impede scientific progress. Stopping research before meaningful results are available is another area of concern. Next, suppressed or delayed publication of data may bias the results of meta-analyses, resulting in incorrect risk—benefit profiles for drugs. Finally, commercially funded clinical research is more likely to yield positive results than when funding comes from other sources. Possible solutions are explored.