Research: Drug company dependency proves costly for Mac

For 18 months, the drumbeat of bad news banged on for medical researchers at McMaster University.

It started in the summer of 2010 with the cancellation of a clinical trial for a diabetes drug. The following summer, a trial for a heart drug was halted prematurely for safety reasons. Six months later, another heart drug trial was stopped early.

It was more than a scientific puzzle. The loss of three major clinical trials based out of McMaster in such a short period of time was a blow to the universitys bottom line.

From 2010 to 2011, research funding at McMaster plunged from a record $395 million to $326 million, and almost all of the drop was because of reduced funding from industry.

Research funding from commercial sources, primarily pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, is a vital part of McMasters overall financial health.

In 2010, nearly half of McMasters total research funding came from industry, by far the highest proportion of any Canadian university. Most of that money came from clinical trials, the costliest part of getting a drug approved.

The question is whether this is a one-year blip for McMaster or the start of a longer downward trend.

The number of clinical trials being carried out in Canada dropped alarmingly from 2008 to 2010 as companies look for cheaper alternatives in countries such as India and China.

They have huge populations and lots of sick people because health care isnt that great to begin with, said Dr. Joel Lexchin, a York University professor of health policy and management.

You can recruit people a lot quicker; you can get your trial completed in a shorter period of time, and that means saving money.

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Research: Drug company dependency proves costly for Mac