GSK responds to BMJ transparency vow

Hannah Blake

pharmaphorum

Global drug giant, GlaxoSmithKline, has responded to the news that the British Medical Journal, from January 2013, will refuse to publish any research papers on drugs unless the clinical trial data is openly available for independent scrutiny.

Drug companies are facing a lot of pressure to lift the lid on drug secrets at the moment and the move by the BMJ further increases this pressure. Many believe that the lack of disclosure hampers the ability of doctors and medical researchers to assess the true value of products.

GSK says it fully supports the BMJ’s request:

“GSK fully supports the commitment made today by BMJ to drive greater transparency of clinical trial data. Moves like this should help medical research by allowing scientists to study the detailed results of clinical trials and increase understanding of current and new medicines. Ultimately this should improve patient care.

“At GSK we already post results from all our clinical trials – whether positive or negative – on our website. We also aim to publish these in peer reviewed journals such as BMJ. Earlier this month we announced plans to further increase openness and transparency by enabling researchers to access the detailed data that sit behind the results of our clinical trials.

“GSK’s ultimate goal is to see a broad system develop where the clinical research community can access data from trials conducted by different organisations. We want to work with others to make this happen.”

Patrick Vallance, President, Pharmaceuticals R&amp,D, GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK’s CEO, Andrew Witty, recently vowed that the company will be further advancing its commitment towards “transparency, openness and collaboration, as these attributes are essential to finding new drugs to treat global diseases”.

BMJ’s commitment to open correspondence will see the website hold specific individuals and organisations to account for their secrecy.

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