Australia ranked first as clinical trial location

Australia is the number one location to conduct pharmaceutical clinical trials according to an international benchmarking study undertaken by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The study ranked Australia against six countries -- the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Singapore and India -- across a range of indicators including clinical trials, the intellectual property system, the regulatory environment, investment and the business environment.

Overall, Australia ranked second as a location for pharmaceutical investment, after Singapore.

"The report confirms that Australia is a good place to do clinical trial business, it's cost effective and it continues to be an industry friendly regulatory environment," said Pharmaceuticals Industry Action Agenda chairman, and Institute of Drug Technology (ASX:IDT) chairman and managing director, Dr Graeme Blackman.

The study, an initiative of the Action Agenda, provides an "independent, objective assessment" of where Australia is ranked against other major locations where pharmaceutical investment dollars might be placed, said Blackman.

"The Action Agenda and the industry will work with people like Invest Australia to give this kind of data maximum international exposure," he said.

The study was jointly commissioned by the federal department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, Invest Australia and the Victorian department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development and was launched in Canberra yesterday by federal industry minister Ian Macfarlane.

Blackman said IDT had seen strong demand for clinical trials over the last couple of years, which has resulted in expansion of the company's CMAX division to Melbourne. "We expect that to be literally up and running this month," said Blackman.

Clinical research organisation Novotech's CEO Alek Safarian said he had also seen a steady increase in Novotech's business over the last three or four years, with a significant upswing in the past six months.

"Certainly there's no doubt that the business climate here is extremely strong," he said. "We're seeing business coming from various avenues, a lot from US biotechnology but also big pharma, as well as European companies".

In particular, demand for CRO services has grown among local clients, Safarian said. "Over the last 12 months we've seen more and more of the biotech companies in Australia getting into phase I or even phase II studies in some cases," he said.

Investment call

Medicines Australia called for continued government support of the Australian pharmaceutical industry following the results of the report.

"Australia's advantages in this increasingly competitive world lie in areas like its educated workforce, regulatory and business environment and innovative ideas brought to market through research and development," said Medicines Australia CEO Kieran Schneeman in a statement.

"Without continued strong investment in R&D, we will slip behind our main competitors."