Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | June 11, 2012 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â CRO, Complete Genomics, Foundation Medicine, Medtox Scientific and ERA Clinical, contract research, eResearch TechnologyÂ
A round-up of news in the contract research services sector, including updates from Foundation Medicine, Complete Genomics, eResearch Technology, LabCorp and ERA Clinical.
Novartis has extended a collaboration with cancer diagnostics specialist Foundation Medicine (FM) which centres on genomic analysis services to support the company’s clinical oncology programmes. The two firms have just come to the end of an 18-month pilot in which FM provided tumour genomic profiling of patients in Novartis’ Phase I and II cancer trials, and have now agreed to extend the arrangement for another three years. FM uses next-generation sequencing to analyse hundreds of cancer-related genes from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumour samples.
US genome sequencing specialist Complete Genomics has said it plans to cut 55 jobs and restructure its operations to conserve cash while it explores ‘strategic alternatives’. Most of the positions will go at the firm’s facility in Mountain View, California. The company said it plans to focus on development of clinical applications for its whole human genome sequencing service, “while continuing to provide high-quality genomes to research customers”. Restructuring and related costs incurred with the plan are estimated at $1.5 million, most of which will be cash expenditures.
Private equity company Genstar Capital has been given the go-ahead from the German Federal Cartel Office to proceed with its $8 per share acquisition of eResearch Technology (ERT), an international specialist in health outcomes research services which recently started construction of a new facility in Hoechberg, Germany. The deal – first announced in April – values ERT at around $400m.
Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) has signed a $241 million agreement to acquire Medtox Scientific, a provider of laboratory testing services and on-site/point-of-collection testing (POCT) devices with revenues of $108 million in 2011. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012. Medtox specialises in drug testing for employment screening and occupational health testing, and has a division that focuses on central laboratory and bioanalytical testing for pharmaceutical clinical trials.
US-based ERA Clinical says it has started its first global investigator-initiated clinical trial (IIT), in other words a study instigated by academic researchers rather than a commercial sponsor. The trial will investigate the efficacy and safety of an approved topical ophthalmic antiviral product for an additional indication and will involve ten sites in the US plus additional sites in Brazil and the Philippines.
Phil Taylor
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