Negotiating research: clinical HIV trials in France

Medication is both a product to be marketed that has come out of industrial research and an object that is controlled by a scientific community. This two-fold reality can be seen in clinical trials, where scientific controls are legally binding for drug to be registered but which can also be viewed as a commercial tool for positioning a new product. The co-operation in tes ting antiviral treatments is analysed between the two key actors in this pr ocedure: the pharmaceutical firms that own the molecules and the hospital d octors whom these firms ask to run tests. Studying the pairing of these act ors shows that each party has an interest in maintaining an efficient syste m of co-operation, which alone can preserve their interests. Although the p harmaceutical industry may be the driving force in research, this does not mean that it dictates scientific procedures and conclusions. (C) 2000 Editi ons scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.