Dive Brief:
- A deal between Yale University's Open Data Access Project (YODA) and Johnson & Johnson will see the drugmaker provide academics with full, free access to clinical trial data.
- The deal marks the first time a drug company has opened its data in such a way, and other companies may follow suit.
- YODA researchers will now be able to look further into the clinical trial data than what was published in results, focusing on, for example, which patients benefited most or which groups were most prone to various side effects.
Dive Insight:
Johnson & Johnson will first open trial data on its drugs before expanding to medical device and consumer health product data. Despite the U.S. requiring drugmakers to register clinical trials since 1997, the companies retained significant control over what data was publicly available, making it possible to conceal failures and disappointing outcomes.
Clearly, this is a huge gain for Yale. With this deal making it pretty much impossible for Johnson & Johnson to impede the release of trial data that might affect it negatively, Yale can only improve its standing in the public eye by providing new research on the previously sheltered data. The willingness to finally fully open that data might even improve Johnson & Johnson's image among consumers, who could see it as embracing a more transparent business model.
This deal — along with any future deals like it — is a win-win.