The Government is committed to make India a favoured destination for clinical research and professionals need to take up a more proactive role in conducting drug development studies in the country, industry experts said.
"The Government is committed to make India a favoured destination for clinical research. We are going through a transition phase where we are focused on bringing about improvements in the clinical research regulatory environment for the benefit of patients and the society at large," Joint Drugs Controller V G Somani said at the 10th Annual Clinical Research Conference here today.
"Clinical research professionals need to take a more proactive role in conducting research for India. A more conducive regulatory framework for the conduct of clinical research will enable this and encourage local innovation, ensuring that Make in India is a reality for drug development and clinical research.
"Such an approach will help make our theme Patients First and Research for India a reality," Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) President Suneela Thatte said.
"Clinical research drives innovation and it is incumbent on us to do more research to contribute to more drug development in India," said Naz Haji, senior vice president and MD, R&D Solutions, QuintilesIMS India.
Discussing on the topic of TB: Challenges and Solutions for the 21st century, Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, ICMR said, "Many positive changes in the clinical research environment are happening in the past few years in India.
"ISCR has been working in this direction. We must continue to invest in capacity building of subject experts, sensitise political leadership, work with ethics committees who are increasingly responsible for patient safety, and encourage patient representation at various fora."
She spoke of the growing cases of tuberculosis in India and the need to address social, environmental, behavioural and economic risk factors for TB.
ISCR presented the Academia Award for contribution to the clinical research fraternity to Tata Memorial Hospital and the Industry Award for contribution to the clinical research fraternity to Dr Arun Bhatt who has over thirty years of clinical research experience.
A panel discussion witnessed leading industry experts and academia speaking on the need for improving stakeholder trust in clinical research, creating a more conducive environment for clinical research and further improvement in regulations.
They highlighted the need for more investigator and patient testimonials on the benefits of clinical research, and its role in ensuring better health and patient outcomes.
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