Transparency campaigners welcome new rules for clinical trials in Europe

Members of the European Parliament have voted overwhelmingly to introduce a raft of legal measures to increase the transparency of clinical trials in Europe.

Campaigners for increased transparency have hailed the move as a step towards ensuring that future treatments are based on all the evidence, increasing the likelihood that licensed drugs are more effective and safer than before.

However, they said that their job was not yet done, as the complete evidence base for most drugs in current use remained undisclosed and should also be made publicly available.

From 2016, when the new clinical trials law is expected to come into force, all trials will have to be registered on a publicly accessible EU clinical trials register before they can begin, and a …