BRIC Nations' "Blossoming Healthcare Budgets" Revive Clinical Trials Opportunities

While some clinical trial sponsors have been driven out of the BRIC nations, a rise in rank for each country - Brazil, Russia, India, China - is expected over the next four years, indicating “blossoming healthcare budgets and markets that are ripe with opportunities for development”.

According to a Thomson Reuters report, Overcoming Clinical Challenges in BRIC Markets, each nation faces its own challenges as an attractive market for clinical trials, but each “also has its own unique landscape and reward,” said Thomson Reuters Life Sciences MD Jon Brett-Harris.

In Brazil, the rapidly changing clinical landscape and complexity and lengthiness of approval and import processes have been cited as the biggest drawbacks. Russia and India face similar challenges, with regulations being enacted faster than foreign pharmaceutical companies can keep up. China has experienced an increase in clinical trials initiated each year, but foreign sponsors face challenges that limit their cost savings in the drug development process.

However, the report points out, BRIC’s pool of almost three billion patients in research-rich centers across major cities leads to fast recruitment and cost-effective trials. Additionally, increased spending on healthcare and R&D fostered a growing number of educated and trained health professionals as well as investigational-medicine product manufacturers and central laboratories.

Click here to access the report.