Overcoming Clinical Challenges in BRIC Markets

Rapidly changing markets raise potential for clinical trials in BRIC nations, despite challenges

Our recent report, Overcoming Clinical Challenges in BRIC Markets, uses sources from Cortellis Clinical Trials Intelligence to explore the current clinical trials landscape in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations. It shows that while increased regulations, evolving clinical standards, and complex pipelines have driven some sponsors out of the BRIC nations, a rise in rank for each country is expected over the next four years, indicating blossoming healthcare budgets and markets that are ripe with opportunities for development.

“Each BRIC nation faces its own challenges as an attractive market for clinical trials, but each also has its own unique landscape and reward,” said Jon Brett-Harris, managing director, Thomson Reuters Life Sciences.

At first glance BRIC Markets may seem to be more saturated with challenges than rewards. The rapidly changing clinical landscape and long, complex approval, import, and review processes in Brazil have been cited among the drawbacks of the region. Regulations in Russia and India are being enacted faster than foreign pharmaceutical companies can keep up. The upheaval of the healthcare system and tumultuous landscape in Russia are seen as additional barriers. Foreign sponsors in China continue to face challenges that limit their cost savings despite the region’s stand-out increase in the number of clinical trials initiated each year.

Despite these issues, the benefits of performing clinical trials in BRIC countries are numerous. A pool of almost three billion patients in research-rich centers across major cities leads to fast recruitment and cost-effective trials. Increased spending on healthcare and R&D fosters a growing number of educated and trained health professionals in addition to investigational-medicine product manufacturers and central laboratories.

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