Data provided by the U.S. government agency National Institutes of Health (NIH) has revealed that while South Korea ranked sixth, Seoul was named the city with the most clinical trials last year, the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials (KoNECT) has confirmed. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea ranked sixth in the number of clinical trials last year, up two places from 2016, a new study has found.
Data provided by the U.S. government agency National Institutes of Health (NIH) has revealed that while South Korea ranked sixth, Seoul was named the city with the most clinical trials last year, the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials (KoNECT) has confirmed.
According to ClinicalTrials.gov, a database website under the NIH, U.S. pharmaceuticals accounted for 24.5 percent of clinical trials, followed by Germany and the U.K., accounting for 5.3 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
South Korea came in sixth place, accounting for 3.5 percent, up from last year’s eighth position and trailing behind Canada and China.
When broken down by city, the highest number of clinical trials took place in the South Korean capital last year, accounting for 1.4 percent of the share.
Seoul is back in the top spot after three years, leaving behind the likes of Houston, New York, and Madrid.
South Korea’s leap in the world rankings comes as a surprise, bucking the trend from last year when the overall number of clinical trials in the world dropped by 16.3 percent year on year, the KoNECT said.
Last year, 30 more clinical trials were conducted in South Korea, up 4.8 percent from the year before, the KoNECT learned after analyzing data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The growth comes on the back of a growing number of clinical trials led by international pharmaceuticals and researchers, while those conducted by South Korean pharmaceuticals dropped by 11.1 percent.
“The new figures are thanks to the government’s continuing support, and vouch for South Korea’s advanced infrastructure and competence in clinical trials.”
South Korea ranked sixth in the number of clinical trials last year, up two places from 2016, a new study has found. (Image: Kobiz Media)
Data also revealed that the number of clinical trials in China and Japan were increasing steadily.
China ranked fifth last year, the country’s highest ranking to date, after the government eased environmental regulations previously placed on clinical trials. Japan was up one place too, ranking eighth.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwirecom)
