Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | December 21, 2012 | News story | Research and Development | Almac, Clinipace, Harrison Clinical Research, PRA, Quintiles, Synteract, WuXi PharmaTech
Synteract agrees to by Harrison Clinical Research, WuXi forges JV with PR, plus appointments and a new accreditation for Quintiles’ US central lab.
US contract research organisation (CRO) Synteract has agreed to acquire Germany-headquartered Harrison Clinical Research for an undisclosed sum. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013, with give Synteract “additional resources and scale to support large, global programmes”. Harrison has operations in Europe, Israel and South America in addition to a US office in Princeton, New Jersey. The German CRO operates a clinical in-patient unit in its home country as well as a clinical research training centre in Belgium.
China’s WuXi PharmaTech has joined forces with US company PRA International to offer a broad platform of Phase I-IV clinical trial services in China, Hong Kong and Macau, including services related to clinical trial monitoring, project management, regulatory strategy and submissions, data management, biostatistics, drug safety reporting and medical monitoring. “Clinical trials continue to expand in China, and this joint venture is another step we are taking to meet the needs of our clients by establishing a strong presence there”, said PRA’s chief executive Colin Shannon.
Charlie Morris has been appointed vice president for new products and services at Almac‘s clinical technologies business, with a key task the development of the company’s IXRS integrated phone and web-based system for managing patients, supplies and clinical trial data. Morris joins Almac after spending more than a decade as the chief technology officer of Princeton Financial Systems (PFS).
Quintiles‘ central laboratory in the US has been accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) newly-developed Biorepository Accreditation Programme. The accreditation was published in 2011 and is the first designed to ensure biorepositories are following best practices for collection and storage of biospecimens. “We sought this CAP accreditation to underscore Quintiles’ consistent verification of biospecimen quality that we believe will fuel the next generation of personalised therapies”, commented Thomas Wollman, senior vice president of Quintiles Global Laboratories.
Clinipace Worldwide has promoted its vice president of international business development, Ran Frenkel, to the additional post of managing director of the CRO’s European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations. Meanwhile, European chief executive Kurt Pfister and chief operating officer Kathryn Voegeli are stepping down from day-to-day management roles but will remain with the CRO in an advisory capacity. All three joined Clinipace as part of its acquisition of Switzerland’s PFC Pharma Focus in 2011.
Phil Taylor
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