Clinical research has become a major industry

By our correspondent

Clinical research has become a major industry and biopharmaceutical companies, hospitals, universities, industries and research centres are actively competing against each other for “the ultimate cure” for a whole array of diseases, Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed said.

He was addressing a seminar titled ‘Future prospects of clinical research in Pakistan’ at the Bahria University. Dr Ahmed said that extending lives was essentially the primary motive where billions of dollars were being spent annually and it was estimated that the global market for pharmaceuticals would reach one trillion US dollars by 2013.

“The tide of clinical research is now spreading beyond the geographical boundaries of major economic powers such as the US, EU and Japan. It is now hitting the shores of Pakistan,” he said. The health minister further said that Pakistan had all the prerequisites of becoming the next research hub of South Asia. The need of the hour, however, was to produce sufficient members of trained and qualified clinical research professionals (CRP) who adhered to international conventions such as good clinical practices, Dr Ahmed said.