Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | July 23, 2012 | News story | Research and Development | Clinipace Worldwide, Medpace, Paraxel, Synexus, eResearch Technologies and invivodata
A round-up of recent developments in the contract research sector, including updates from Parexel, Medpace, Clinipace, Synexus and ERT.
Parexel International says it has become the first contract research organisation (CRO) to be selected by the recently-formed Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF) to help Korean companies develop and commercialise healthcare products for the global market. The KDDF was set up last September with $1 billion in funding and the objective of developing at least 10 new drugs for the global market by 2019. Parexel said it will provide “a broad range of drug development support services” to Korean companies which take part in the programme.
Medpace has opened a new 60,000 sq. ft. clinical pharmacology unit in Cincinnati, US, with 96 beds available for patient stays. The new facility is twice the size of Medpace’s original unit and will boost its ability to carry out multiple studies at one time, said the firm. The facility houses a pharmacy, processing labs and patient recruitment offices, and is located alongside Medpace’s corporate headquarters and CRO operations. Reference and bioanalytical labs are also being constructed at the Cincinnati site and will come online by the end of 2012, said Medpace president Dr August Troendle.
Clinipace Worldwide has won a contract by Prometheus Laboratories to manage two clinical trials of Proleukin (aldesleukin) in metastatic melanoma. The first trial will look at Proleukin and Roche’s Zelboraf (vemurafenib) in 135 treatment-naïve patients with metastatic melanoma, while a second will examine high-dose Proleukin followed by Yervoy (ipilimumab) in 120 patients with the cancer. Prometheus’ director of clinical operations, Todd Butler, said the collaboration would allow real-time monitoring of patient enrolment and protocol compliance.
UK CRO Synexus has boosted its presence in Africa with the opening of a new in-patient facility in Pretoria, South Africa, bringing its tally of facilities in the country to four. The new Nyeleti research facility is designed to support Phase II and Phase III clinical trials and houses an in-patient ward and a secure, temperature controlled dispensing unit. The unit will focus on studies which involve 24-hour serial spirometry (lung function), mixed meal tolerance testing, pharmacokinetics, visits requiring an overnight stay or when infusion is required.
eResearch Technologies (ERT) has boosted its position in the electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) sector with the acquisition of US company invivodata, saying the merger makes it a leading player in the ePRO and clinical outcome assessment (COA) sectors. invivodata boosts ERT’s position as in health outcomes research while complementing its market-leading position in cardiac safety and respiratory-outcomes assessment, said the purchaser. News of the deal came shortly after ERT was acquired by private equity firm Genstar Capital in a $400 million transaction.
Phil Taylor
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