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In new crowdfunding trend, donors decide fate of clinical trials

Nature Medicine volume 21, pages 101–102 (2015)Cite this article

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The concept of earmarking donations is not particularly new: wealthy donors have long prescribed a particular cause for which they'd like their funds allocated. But beyond major philanthropists, ordinary individuals have historically pledged money to organizations in good faith, not always knowing which particular projects their money will support. In 2008, however, with the establishment of the Red Cross's 'Donor Direct' option, people could choose to allocate their donations towards specific disaster relief efforts by the Geneva-based nonprofit.

This trend of crowdfunding has extended beyond general projects, such as those usually found on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, into scientific research, perhaps in part because reduced government spending on science has many biomedical researchers looking for new sources of financial support. With the help of science-specific crowdfunding websites such as Consano.org and MedStartr, researchers are increasingly turning to the public to help bridge the gap between drug development and its implementation in the clinic.

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  1. Shraddha Chakradhar
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Chakradhar, S. In new crowdfunding trend, donors decide fate of clinical trials. Nat Med 21, 101–102 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0215-101

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