Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | December 23, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â AMRI, Frontage Labs, Kymos and Crystal3 Labs, Pacific Biomarkers/CingeneÂ
A round up of news in the CRO sector, including cutbacks at AMRI and updates from Pacific Biomarkers/Clingene, Frontage Labs, Kymos and Crystal3 Labs.
Contract research organisation AMRI says it is cutting staff and shutting down a US facility in order to trim back its operating expenses in 2012. The CRO had previously said it would drop internal R&D programmes in order to save around $7 million a year, and the new restructuring exercise will add another $10-$11 million in savings. AMRI expects to incur a charge of $5-$6 million in the fourth-quarter as a result of the move.
US firm Pacific Biomarkers Inc (PBI) has expanded into India via a deal with local CRO Clingene, a subsidiary of Biocon. The two companies will collaborate in bringing PBI’s portfolio of biomarker and laboratory analysis services to companies developing drugs in the Indian market.
Frontage Laboratories of the US says it has completed the renovation of a clinical centre at the Jilin University Hospital in China that will serve as a hub for early-stage trials in oncology. The centre includes a new intensive care unit “enabling it to host a full range of cancer studies including treatment, prevention, screening, diagnostic and supportive care research”, said the CRO.
Spain’s Kymos Pharma Services has forged an alliance with French drugmaker Ipsen that will see the CRO take over responsibility for eight scientists working at an Ipsen unit in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona. The deal “allows the creation of an innovative area of R&D services in the field of bio molecules and biosimilars,” said Kymos, which will open a new immunology laboratory in January that will house the project.
Crystal3 Labs – a Florida, USA-based CRO – has been acquired by individual investor Vithalbhai Dhaduk and will immediately change its name to Global Pharma Analytics. The small form employs six people and provides services such as analytical testing, stability programmes, laboratory maintenance and support, and consulting.
Phil Taylor
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