Why all clinical trial results must be published

21 February 2013

This week the British Biotech company Phytopharm announced that their new Parkinson's drug Cogane failed in Phase 2 clinical trials. This is disappointing news but it's crucial that negative results like these are made public.

In the 28-week trial which involved more than 400 people with Parkinson's, participants taking Cogane showed no benefit compared to those taking placebo (or dummy treatment).

Research is only useful when the results are shared

Clinical research into Parkinson's is crucial if we're to understand more about the condition and ultimately find a cure.

But the evidence suggests that about half of all clinical trials have never been published, and trials with negative results are even less likely to be made public.

In order for clinical research to be beneficial for people with Parkinson's, the findings must be shared.

So while the findings from the Cogane trial are not what we hoped for, at least they have been made available for others to learn from them.

That's why we're supporting the All Trials Campaign

The All Trials initiative is campaigning for the publication of the results from all clinical trials - past, present and future - on all treatments currently being used.

Rachel Evans, our clinical research policy and campaigns adviser, comments:

"We believe that the results of every Parkinson's trial should be made public regardless of the findings.

"That's why we've signed up to support the All Trials Registered, All Results Reported campaign.

"If you'd like to support the campaign, you can add your name to the All Trials online petition.

"We're also working closely with other research charities to make sure that new rules being developed to govern clinical trials across Europe - the EU Clinical Trials Regulation - make reporting results mandatory."

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