Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | November 7, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |
No new suitors come forward for PPD, Icon and Charles River report mixed Q3 results, plus updates from Cyprotex and Physiomics.
The sale of contract research organisation PPD to affiliates of the private equity houses Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman has moved a stepped close to completion, after it emerged no other parties had come forward with an offer for the company by 1 November deadline.
The $3.9 billion transaction remains subject to antitrust clearance in some jurisdictions outside the USA and approval by PPD’s shareholders.
Icon reported third-quarter revenues up 7% to $241 million, although the Ireland-headquartered CRO still posted a $2.7 million net loss for the quarter thanks to ongoing charges related to cost-reduction programme and the need to add 500 additional staff to meet a growing workload.
Chief executive Ciaran Murphy said the third quarter was a record in terms of new business, with $431 million in signings during the period.
Cyprotex has decided to almost double the size of its US facility near Boston, Massachusetts, to help it meet ‘increasing worldwide demand’ for its specialty in vitro toxicology services.
The UK-headquartered company, which specialises in ADME-Tox services, said the Watertown unit would swell from 4,400 sq. ft. to around 8,200 sq. ft. as a result of the expansion. In the first half of 2011, revenues for the US site were £1.27 million, compared £530,000 for the same period last year.
Charles River Laboratories said it intends to reduce staff numbers by 2% this quarter after reporting reduced sales in its preclinical services business in the third quarter. Overall revenues climbed 2.5% to $278 million but were flattered by exchange rate factors and excluding these would have shrunk by around 1.2 per cent.
The poorer than expected showing was attributed to soft demand among small and mid-size drugmakers.
UK-based CRO Physiomics has won a new contract from Lilly to provide computer simulation support for two of the drugmaker’s oncology programmes.
The in silico simulations will be used to predict the outcomes of proposed regimens for two Lilly drug compounds, which will be tested in combination with other drugs.
