Delay in licensing drugs costs lives

Licensing authorities require that drugs have a clinically meaningful effect, and in the case of anticancer drugs this is taken to mean an increase in survival compared with standard treatment. However, waiting for these clinical endpoints poses a dilemma, as the introduction of a potentially valuable drug may be delayed considerably. Koopmans (p 1389) argues that other endpoints and quality of life data should be used and that the effect on survival could be investigated after the drug is marketed.


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Relevant Article

Clinical endpoints in trials of drugs for cancer: time for a rethink?
P P Koopmans
BMJ 2002 324: 1389-1391. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]




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