How involved is industry in industry-funded trials?

A study’s sponsor has a hand in almost every step of most industry-funded trials, researchers report in the BMJ. Researchers analyzed 200 trials that were fully funded by industry, had at least one academic author, and were published in one of the leading medical journals. In almost all trials, both the funder and academics were involved in the study’s design, conduct, and reporting. But in contrast, data analysis was done more often by the funder. Academics were only involved in 40 percent of data analyses, compared to funders, who were involved in 73 percent.

“Academics view the collaboration with the industry funder as beneficial, but some report loss of academic freedom,” the authors conclude.