"It 's our mission to provide global leadership to promote integrity and excellence for the clinical research profession. We affirm the commitment to upholding the highest standards of personal and professional behavior in the conduct of clinical trials. Because of the economical shift and the new targeted countries in -and outside of - Europe, we need to assure Belgium as the preferred country to perform any phase of clinical trial activity. Consequently there is a absolute need by means of education, training and targeted campaigns, to increase visibility and awareness of the importance of clinical research to the medical community as well as the general public."

dr. Yves Geysels, President ACRP.be

"The Mission of the Belgian Association of Phase 1 Units (BAPU) is to promote and encourage the interests of early clinical drug development in Belgium at a national and international level. "The initiative" which takes place in Brussels on Friday 26 February is the first joint national effort to promote clinical trials in Belgium in general and as such is an extension of the goals of BAPU since it was founded in 2005. We are delighted that we are given the opportunity, together with pharma.be, ACRP and BeAPP, to express more explicitly the changes which should be considered for Belgium to remain a solid partner at the forefront of (early) drug development. As is so often the case, no change is no option." 

Prof. dr. Jan de Hoon, President BAPU

 "It is very important that Belgian patients can continue to have early access to innovative medicines. Participation in a clinical trial offers these patients an opportunity in an environment where novel therapies are not always readily available due to the fact that obtaining reimbursement for these therapeutic approaches may take a while"

Dr. Monique Podoor, President BeAPP

 "The basic idea is that, together, we must be able to feed the Belgian CT-community with ideas on possible amendments and solutions that will keep Belgium on the radar screen of decision makers with regard to the conduct of clinical trials. Our joint mission is to assure that Belgium continues to be the place to be for the conduct of high quality and efficient clinical research."

Prof. dr. Leo Neels, General Manager pharma.be