Dr John Moller joined Novotech in January 2014 to lead the expansion of Novotech’s Asia operations. John also sits on the Board of Novotech. Prior to Novotech John was Managing Director of IVF Australia and Queensland Fertility Group and sat on the Board of the parent company Virtus Health. John was previously a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group specialising in developing growth and operational improvement initiatives with a particular focus on healthcare. John has a Medical Degree from the University of Auckland, a degree in advanced logic from the University of Canterbury and an MBA from the University of Oxford.
Conducting Clinical Trials in Asia
As with many sectors, the 21st Century may well be the Asian Century for the pharmaceutical market and drug development. Markets such as China are predicted to overtake the US to become the largest pharmaceutical market in the world during the first half of this century and Asia has become the fastest growth region for conducting clinical trials. Home to 60% of the world’s population, Asia’s popularity for clinical research and development has been fueled by four key factors: 1. Cost-effectiveness and time efficiencies afforded by large populations, significant numbers of treatment naïve patients and high urban densities
2. A wide range of chronic and lifestyle disease patterns driven by rising prosperity and aging populations
3. Increasingly robust and efficient regulatory and ethics processes
4. Quality improvements resulting from massive investments in research infrastructure and human resources
Asia is a complex heterogeneous region with many cultures, languages, legislative and regulatory environments, at vastly different stages of economic development. In order maximise the opportunity that Asia offers, sponsors of clinical trials need to clearly understand their strategic objectives. A careful roadmap addressing trial planning, site and investigator selection, and study conduct is vital which also needs to incorporate an understanding of cultural differences and some infrastructure limitations. |
