The commercialization of clinical trials is becoming a hot topic. Last week, we read the tale of PPD, the big clinical research organization, which took a big stake in cash-starved Accentia BioPharma and hopes to earn 14 percent on royalties if a sinus drug its testing for the company gets approved by the FDA.

Beyond the excitement of a good deal for whichever corporation is involved, at issue is the patient. The PPD deal with Accentia was criticized, by some, as a conflict of interest, while others either defended the arrangement or downplayed any problems. So we asked you to vote whether the deal is, indeed, a conflict. Here are the results….

Yes - 52 voters, or 78 percent, agreed the deal is a conflict;
No - 15 voters, or 22 percent, disagreed.
Total Voters: 67

Granted, this isn’t a scientific poll. However, the results indicate concern about the extent to which a CRO should invest in drugs in which it is conducting trials and also suggest that some additional oversight may be warranted. Thanks to those who voted.