Cost, quality and timeliness of data reporting are the key considerations when running a clinical trial. Australia has always been renounced for data quality and physician expertise, but in more recent times Australia has been named as one of the most expensive countries to run a clinical trial in the world (KPMG). In addition to the local governance requirements including long HREC approvals, the balance between cost, quality and timeliness is being disrupted and consequently, the number of clinical trials initiated through Australian centres is declining. The decisions to generate and run clinical trials across the globe are complex and include the strategic importance of the country/site, previous performance in metrics such as recruitment rates and also cost. Australia presents additional dynamics that need to be considered including complex reporting, travel costs and the level of risk in investing in a country that does not readily reimburse new agents with proven clinical advantage, such is standard in the US or major European countries.

With the reduced funding for clinical trials in Australia from the Federal Government, there is a heightened need for all stakeholders to step forward with ideas to address the decline in trials and how we can decrease the cost of trials to ensure Australia remains competitive in the selection process.

Is a stronger collaboration with Asia Pacific sites part of the answer?

What would this look like?

Is there an opportunity to share resources across the country or Region to expedite approval and recruitment and minimise total costs.

These concepts will be explored during the presentation.