Harris welcomes interim report on clinical trials

9.31.01am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 26th Jul 2006

Welcoming the interim report of the Expert Scientific Group examining the design of phase I clinical studies, Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat Science Spokesman, said:

"This represents yet another call for the publication of all clinical trials results including all phase I (pilot) studies and negative results. Not to publish such results is a form of systematic fraud which can have serious consequences for the health of human volunteers and patients.

"The recommendation that data from pre-clinical (animal) studies are made openly available for new drugs of this type is welcome in order to help avoid duplication of animal tests, especially those in primates, and to enable the widest possible scrutiny of the adequacy of animal tests on these compounds before they are put into man for the first time."