Tom Pike Of Quintiles: Technology And Genomics Will Revolutionize The World Of Clinical Trials

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

With more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Tom Pike, CEO of Quintiles, has seen many positive changes occur. Speaking at the Oracle Industry Connect conference earlier this year, Pike opted to delve into that experience and share some of the progress he has seen.

Between 1987 and 2007, the risk of death from heart attack has fallen between 50 and 60%. We have seen a quarter-billion children get vaccinated, which has likely saved around four million lives. Even the mortality rate from HIV has been reduced by about 93% due to drugs developed over the last 30 years.

Despite this progress, Pike recognizes a lot more still needs to be done. For example, 39,000 people continue to be diagnosed with cancer each day. In Africa, a child dies every minute as a result of malaria. And this year about 1.5 million people in China alone will die from cardiovascular disease.