Low Success Rate for Phase II Trials Cause for Concern, Study Says

Decreasing success rates for Phase II drug candidates are cause for concern, as the overall attrition of late-stage drug development “seems to be unsustainability high,” a new Centre for Medicines Research (CMR) analysis says. Phase II success rates are lower than at any other phase of development and have fallen 10 percentage points, from 28 percent in the 2006 to 2007 time period, to 18 percent in the period from 2008 to 2009. That’s according to a CMR analysis of 16 pharmaceutical company projects that represent approximately 60 percent of global R&D spending.
Clinical Trials Advisor