Conflicts of Interest in International Human Drug Research and the Insufficiency of International Protections

Abstract

The world relies largely on private firms for the development of new medicine, and the system is efficient. Driven by the incentive to profit from sales of new pharmaceuticals, drug companies risk millions of dollars and years of work to shepherd basic scientific discoveries through laboratory and human testing in the hope of developing a marketable drug. For example, it is estimated that in 2002 alone, pharmaceutical companies invested $45 billion the development of new medicine worldwide.While the profit incentive generates such enormous private investment in human drug development, it also encourages firms to pose inappropriate risks to the safety of human subjects when speeding a new drug to the market. The risks posed by financial conflicts of interest associated with human subjects research on new pharmaceutical products are notable examples, both in the U.S. and internationally.