Why should you locate your trial in the Scandinavian countries when emerging markets beckon, with large populations and costs for conducting trials that are apparently a fraction of the price?

Losec, Lipitor and Seroxat are examples of highly profitable products that were all clinically tested in the Scandinavian countries because trials in these countries are reputed to generate high quality data.

There are several contributing factors which make the region such an ideal place for clinical trials:

• A healthcare systems with the world’s highest level of care, with equal access for all citizens preventing bias due to social status.
• A well educated population who understand the importance and benefits of clinical research and who are non-migratory, resulting in low dropout rates.
• An outstanding capacity for tracking patients and their medical history within the healthcare systems; the commitment of the widely respected regulatory bodies to provide guidance and assistance in order to promote progress in clinical research, an efficient handling process and best-in-class scientific evaluation.

The healthcare infrastructure and long tradition of clinical research in the Scandinavian countries will prove cost-effective for trial conduct compared with the costly elaborate training programmes and close surveillance necessary in other parts of the world.