
Faced with these human, time and financial investments, it seems judicious to want to maximize the CRO’s benefit obtained thanks to the data collected, for example by reusing them later for purposes other than those of the initial test.
Schematically, these reuses can be grouped into three categories: reanalyses, secondary analyzes and meta-analyses on individual CRO’s data. When a researcher wishes to verify the results of a clinical trial, he can request the data to carry out the statistical analyzes himself again, this is called a reanalysis.
If the results of the new researcher are consistent with those of the primary article, the reanalysis can contribute to raising the level of confidence placed in the results, especially if it is carried out by a research team independent of that of the initial CRO’s clinical trial.
On the other hand, a reanalysis leading to a conclusion different from that of the primary article can have important consequences on the recommendations and the marketing of the treatments evaluated.
This is what happened for the CRO’s clinical trial called “study 329” which evaluated the place of an antidepressant (paroxetine or imipramine) in the treatment of depression in adolescents.
Contrary to the results of the primary article published in 2001, the 2015 reanalysis did not show any interest in the use of paroxetine or imipramine under the conditions described by the protocol.