LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Trials of rheumatoid arthritis drugs are more likely to report positive outcomes when the author has received fees for professional services from the pharmaceutical industry, according to data presented Friday.
The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the European League Against Rheumatism in London, showed 91% of randomized controlled trials with these kinds of financial conflicts of interest, or FCOI, achieved a positive outcome. That compared with 66.7% of such trials where no FCOIs were involved. Adjusting for "confounding factors" didn't change this finding.
The findings came from a U.S. study conducted between the two periods, 2002-03 and 2006-07.
"The number of pharmaceutical treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis has increased remarkably in recent years, partly as a result of increased funding from pharmaceutical companies," said Nasim Khan, an assistant professor from the division of rheumatology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
"Our study has shown that certain FCOIs among study authors have an increased likelihood of positive outcomes favoring the sponsor's drug," Khan said in a statement.
He added: "There are many potential reasons for these results--it could be possible that more experienced clinicians hired by industry have a greater likelihood of achieving positive results because of superior trial design or that positive trials results are more likely to be published than negative ones."
By Sten Stovall
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