European directive has doubled cost of running trials in UK

New European regulations have delayed non-commercial trials in the United Kingdom relating to cancer and doubled the cost of running them, a new study says.

The European Union's clinical trials directive has stopped most clinical trials units in the UK from running trials in international centres, and three out of eight units have been unable to open or take part in a trial because it would be too difficult or expensive for them, says the study, which was published online ahead of print publication on 21 November in the European Journal of Cancer (www.sciencedirect.com, doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2006.09.016).

“Rather than …