A recent article published in PharmAsia News highlighted the results of ground-breaking research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), that showed a lower dose of intravenous alteplase can reduce bleeds in the brain and improve survival rates in patients with acute ischemic stroke. While the results of ENCHANTED, a predominantly Asian study, were exciting, it provided a compelling story of the current clinical trial landscape in Asia.

The multinational ENCHANTED trial involved around 3,300 patients across 100 sites globally within Latin America, Asia and Europe. With 50% of the sites from Asia delivering 63% of enrollees, ENCHANTED provided another example of how the world’s most populous region is consistently disproving the perception that the region is operationally difficult and prone to complexity.

“In Asia, the hierarchical nature and reporting structure in the hospital means that senior doctors can often demand more resource to support their study,” Professor Craig Anderson of The George Institute, lead author of the paper and Scientific Leader at George Clinical explained. “Furthermore, senior doctors in the Western hospital system are commonly encumbered with more administrative and accountability responsibilities compared to the Asian system – detracting them from the clinical trial”.

On Asia’s ability to deliver patient numbers, Professor Anderson added that “While there is no doubt Asia has the patient volume, it is the commitment of site personnel to the project, and the investigator’s ability to help the patient understand the scientific benefit of the clinical trial that sets high recruiting sites apart”. The sites in ENCHANTED were recruited based on their performance from Professor Anderson’s previous landmark studies, INTERACT and INTERACT2.

George Clinical is the leading clinical research organisation (CRO) in the Asia-Pacific region with over 260 staff operating in 15 countires. George Clinical provides a full range of trial management services to pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech customers, for both registration and post marketing trials. Our parent organisation, The George Institute for Global Health, is a leader in chronic disease research with a global network of experts. George Clinical combines this scientific and clinical leadership from the Institute with world class trial delivery capability to create a distinctive service. George Clinical’s internationally recognised scientific leadership allows them to provide excellence from design to delivery.