Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | March 11, 2013 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Accelovance, BioLamina, Clinstar LLC, Critical Path Services, PRA, PSI CRO, Radiant Development, Roche, SyntaÂ
Consolidation news in the CRO sector as Accelovance buys Radiant and PRA snaps up Clinstar, plus updates from Roche/BioLamina, PSI and CPS.
US contract research organisation (CRO) Accelovance has expanded the range of therapeutic categories it serves with the acquisition of Radiant Development, which focuses on clinical trials in the areas of cardiovascular disease, men’s and women’s health, rheumatology, dermatology, oncology and medical devices. Accelovance has to date focused on the vaccine, infectious disease, and oncology markets, so the Radiant deal marks a major expansion of its expertise. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
Roche and BioLamina have signed an agreement to research and develop new cell culture systems for stem cell research and other applications. The two companies said they will initially focus on laminin-based in vitro cell culture matrices to provide physiological microenvironments for living cells. Financial details were not disclosed, although Roche said it will provide R&D funding and scientific expertise to BioLamina.
US-based CRO Critical Path Services has opened a new office in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina, which will offer technical writing, quality assurance, and toxicology consulting/project management. Additional staff are being hired at the new office, but CPS’ chief executive Julie Eble said the company’s laboratory service operations will continue to be based in the Philadelphia area.
Switzerland’s PSI CRO has won a contract from Synta Pharmaceuticals to carry out the GALAXY-2 trial of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) candidate ganetespib, which will enrol around 500 patients from 15 or more countries. The trial will compared ganetespib plus docetaxel to docetaxel alone in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC.
PRA International has acquired CRO Clinstar LLC, a specialist in Phase I-IV testing services in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states, in a deal which supports the US company’s drive into Eastern Europe. The acquisition also includes ClinStar’s stand-alone clinical trial warehousing and logistics division IMP Logistics.
Phil Taylor
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