The Cochrane Collaboration is a major supporter of the AllTrials Campaign for open access to clinical trial data, and there have been key developments in this initiative, worldwide. In 2010 the European Medicines Agency (EMA) began releasing patient-level data from clinical trials used to approve new medicines in Europe. The EMA set a transparency deadline of 1 January 2014, but its process has been shut down due to a lawsuit by two American drug companies: AbbVie and InterMune. These companies argue that certain data, such as adverse events, should remain commercially confidential because its release could harm profits and encourage replication from rival drug companies. The actions of these two companies have led to the shutdown of the entire public-access program.

David Healy, a well-respected psychiatrist, psychopharmacologist, scientist and author, has started a petition to have AbbVie and InterMune drop their legal action against EMA and allow public release of clinical trial data to continue.

If you are in support of public access to clinical trial data, please sign this petition and spread the word.

For more information on this issue, click here.