Glaxo to release patient data from clinical trials to outside researchers

In a significant departure from industry practice, GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., said it would make available to outside researchers the raw but anonymous patient data from clinical trials for drugs it has developed or discontinued, and its tuberculosis compound library.

Pharmaceutical companies generally don't divulge such information, claiming that it is a proprietary secret.

"As a truly global health care company, I believe we have a responsibility to do all we can at GSK to use our resources, knowledge and expertise to help tackle serious global health challenges," Glaxo chief executive Andrew Witty said in a statement.

But Glaxo can't do it alone, Witty said. "By being more open with our clinical trial data, we also hope to help further scientific understanding."

Glaxo operates in more than 100 countries. It employs about 1,300 in Center City, with that group scheduled to move into a new Navy Yard building early in 2013. The company has other facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Glaxo, which made its announcement Thursday in London, said that to make sure the clinical data are used for valid purposes, researchers will submit requests that will be reviewed by an independent panel of experts. If approved, access will be granted through a secure website.

Open sourcing aside, the company is also trying to show officials in the United States and Western Europe that it is being a good citizen.

In July, when Glaxo paid a record penalty of $3 billion and pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor criminal charges, one of the charges dealt with its failure to provide clinical data related to the safety of its diabetic drug Avandia to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The European Medicines Agency has released clinical data, upon request, after it reviews drug applications.

As for tuberculosis, the sometimes-fatal disease is a contagious bacterial infection that usually damages the lungs. Only HIV/AIDS among "single infectious agents" kills more people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. In 2010, 8.8 million people became ill with TB and 1.4 million died.

Although tuberculosis is more prevalent in Africa and parts of Asia, the Associated Press reported Thursday that a student in East Stroudsburg, Pa., was diagnosed with the disease.