More clinical trials in the U.S. are being funded by the medical device and pharmaceutical industry than by federal health groups.
A new study found that every year since 2006, the number of medical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health has decreased and the number of trails funded by the medical industry has increased.
From 2006 to 2014, federally funded trials fell from 1,376 to 1,048, while industry trials grew from 4,585 to 6,550, Reuters reported. After registration of trials became required for publication in scientific journals in 2005, the total number of new trials taking place increased by more than 9,000 to reach 18,400 in 2014.
Researchers found the rise by analyzing data on the ClinicalTrials.gov database, which is where medical trials are registered. The source noted that most of the newly registered trials where in the “other” category. There were more than 10,000 trials in classified in this category in 2014, though many of then were by done by researchers outside of the U.S., due to the database serving as an informal international registry for trials.
One reason for the growth may be a smaller NIH budget, which has shrunk by 14 percent since 2006. The Redding Record Searchlight noted that Johns Hopkins receives the largest amount of NIH funding out of all academic institutions.