Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | December 12, 2012 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â AMRI, Covance, Dimensione Ricerca, INC Research, Perceptive Informatics, TFSÂ
TFS buys Italian CRO Dimensione Ricerca, AMRI closes a US facility plus business development updates from Covance, Perceptive Informatics and INC Research.
Swedish contract research organisation (CRO) TFS International has agreed to buy Italian counterpart Dimensione Ricerca as it embarks on an expansion drive across Europe. TFS will take on all 40 of the current workers at Dimensione Ricerca, which was one of the first CROs to be set up in Italy and is predicted to contribute around $3.9 million in sales in calendar 2013. “The evolution of the pharmaceutical outsourcing market requires a large critical mass to access global clinical trials,” commented TFS’ managing director Ricard Quingles in a statement. The Italian CRO specialises in Phase II-IV trials, as well as project management, monitoring, data management, biostatistics, market access consultancy and medical writing.
AMRI has said it intends to close a US research facility in Bothell, Washington, in response to what it says are “shifting market preferences related to integrated drug discovery activities”. The site’s biology capabilities will transfer to AMRI’s Singapore facility while some of the unit’s analytical services will now be offered by its unit in Albany, New York. Around 24 workers are currently employed at the unit, and the closure is expected to cut costs by around $2m a year.
CRO giant Covance‘s early development facility in Shanghai, China, has been certified by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) as operating in accordance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). The Shanghai facility – which opened in 2010 – provides non-clinical safety assessment, bioanalytical, in vivo pharmacology and drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) services. In a statement Covance said it was the only global CRO with SFDA GLP certification in China.
Parexel’s eClinical business unit Perceptive Informatics has opened a customer service office in Shanghai as it tries to increase the penetration of its electronic data capture (EDC) clinical trial management software in China and other Asian markets. The set-up of the unit – which will offer support in both Mandarin and English – follows the creation of a similar customer care unit in Tokyo and Kobe, Japan.
INC Research has launched a new business unit – called Research Strategic Advisory Services – that will provide consulting capabilities for drug development and commercialisation, regulatory consulting and submissions, and quality assurance. The new division will provide consulting and perspectives on regulatory, compliance and strategic directions.
Phil Taylor
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