by Prof David Hutchinson & Cathy Garden

Veterinary Good Clinical Practice (VICH GCP) is a global process that should be applied to the conduct of all clinical trials on veterinary medicinal products. Study investigators, including veterinary surgeons, farmers and other associated individuals at all levels of experience have GCP responsibilities, but most researchers know little about what this involves. Investigators who do not work in accordance with VICH GCP will be unable to perform trials on new products in the future.

GCP helps to protect animals and puts into place systems that ensure reliable data is generated in the study. These are important aims for the investigator, the study sponsor and the authorities that review the results of trials as part of a decision making process

All clinical trials of veterinary medicines to be used to support a product licence application should be performed in accordance with V-ICH good clinical practice. The final Veterinary ICH GCP (VICH GCP) guidelines have been summarised into 12 ‘rules’.

This easy to read, illustrated, bullet point guide will help study site teams to comply with their VICH GCP responsibilities.