Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | December 7, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Almac, GVK Biosciences and PreClinOmics/AIT, PPD, QuintilesÂ
Our round-up of news from the contract research sector includes PPD’s sales to a private equity consortium, new clinical supply software from Almac, plus updates from Quintiles, GVK Biosciences and PreClinOmics/AIT.
Private equity firms Carlyle Group and Hellmann & Freidman have completed their $3.9 billion acquisition of contract research organisation PPD, after shareholders in the company overwhelmingly approved the transaction at a meeting on 30 November. The CRO follows in the footsteps of INC Research, Omnicare Clinical Research, InVentiv Health, amongst others, in marching down the private equity route.
Almac of Northern Ireland has launched a new forecasting platform, called COMPASS, designed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the supply inventory process during clinical studies. The firm said the platform provides benefits to clients by allowing the supply chain manager to “proactively direct the entire clinical supply chain, ultimately saving money often lost through inaccurate forecasting or overproduction of supplies.”
Quintiles has further expanded its central laboratories network by opening a new 7,500 sq. ft. facility in Centurion, South Africa, that will provide a suite of testing services including “tuberculosis, microbiology services, HIV, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry”. The intention is to support a wider array of clinical studies across multiple therapeutic areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, Quintiles has expanded a partnership with Indonesia’s Prodia Clinical Laboratory to facilitate rapid testing of samples from patients in clinical trials in Indonesia.
Two CROs based in Indianapolis, US, have teamed up to offer clients preclinical testing services such as drug absorption and distribution studies, PreClinOmics said that combining its bioanalytical expertise with AIT Bioscience Partnership‘s mass spectrometry capabilities means that the two firms can “provide a client with an earlier impression as to whether their compound is being absorbed and distributed as expected.”
GVK Biosciences has entered into a drug discovery alliance with the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research at Temple University in Philadelphia, US. The CRO will carry out target validation, lead identification and lead optimisation of small molecules in selected therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, metabolic, and central nervous system disorders. The two organisations will share the responsibility for designing new molecules for advancement into preclinical development.
Phil Taylor
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