Drug companies and clinical trials

In July 2007 the St. Petersburg Times reported on the case of Accentia BioPharmaceuticals, a small drug company attempting top develop a treatment for sinusitis, SinuNase. To research the drug Accentia attracted PPD Inc. as a shareholder. A year later PPD also got the job of running the trials on the safety and effectiveness of SinuNase.

"If the PPD-run trials result in the drug being approved by the Food and Drug Administration, financially strapped Accentia will be on its way to tapping a billion-dollar market of folks with chronic sinusitis. And PPD will get 14 percent of the royalties. Is that a conflict of interest? The FDA doesn't think so," wrote St. Petersburg Times reporter Kris Hundley.

Other SourceWatch Resources

 * Drug industry
 * U.S. Food and Drug Administration