The illustration shows the phases of a clinical trial. Clinical trials are designed in several different ways. The number of patients involved in a clinical trial for cancer treatment, for instance, will often be lower than other types of trials.
fect. Data can be stored in existing registries and then be extracted when, for example, researchers test new medicines on patients. Dr Lafolie has a lot on his agenda, and the senior lecturer at Karolinska University Hospital devotes much of his time to project management and coordination of several researcher networks within the Nordic countries and the EU. More clinical trials means more access to new drugs The doctor himself has been responsible for a number of clinical trials in his capacity as medical director for several pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and Orion Pharma. He believes that giving patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials improves health care. – More clinical studies in the Nordic countries will give the population faster access to new treatment methods and medicines, he says.
panies. This will in turn benefit our own small and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies, he adds. Improved welfare through cooperation – We can enhance welfare in the Nordic region through cooperation, asserts Dr Lafolie, who feels that the Nordic countries tend to over-focus on their differences.
– There’s so much that unites us, he insists. All of the Nordic countries have well-developed, democratic health care systems. – We also have extremely high-quality health registries and biobanks, says the doctor. – These provide an excellent basis for clinical research, which involves analysing patient data to determine whether a treatment is safe and gives the desired ef-
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Common guidelines Clinical trials are very costly and take a number of years to conduct. It can be extremely difficult to recruit an adequate number of patients with the diagnosis to be studied. However, if researchers can draw on the entire population of all the Nordic countries, they will have a pool of nearly 26 million people to choose from. – The Nordic countries have to agree on common guidelines. It will make patient recruitment easier, concludes Dr Lafolie.