Contract research news in brief
pharmafile | May 4, 2010 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Corealis, Norwich Pharma, PPD, PRA, biofocusÂ
Our round-up of developments in the contract research sector includes a new $41m contract for BioFocus, new locations for PPD, Corealis and PRA International, and the launch of a clinical research division at Norwich Pharma.
Galapagos’ contract service division BioFocus has won a contract to perform drug-candidate screening and related services for the CHDI Foundation, a non-profit organisation searching for Huntington’s disease therapies. BioFocus will be eligible for up to $41 million in fees over the course of the five-year project, and will provide services relating to neuronal assay development, high-content screening, fragment-based screening, computational chemistry, and protein crystallography, as well as studies involving pharmacokinetics, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.
US contract research organisation PPD has opened a clinical research centre in Taizhou, China, to provide clinical monitoring services to biopharmaceutical companies which want to develop vaccines in the country, whose vaccine market is growing at a rate of around 20% a year. The CRO notes vaccine studies in China are conducted by the national Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, instead of at phase I clinics or by investigators at hospitals as in other countries, and require thousands rather than hundreds of patients for enrolment.
Canada’s Corealis Pharma has bought a 3,000 sq. ft. pharmaceutical research facility in Laval, Quebec, to serve as a base for its activities in oral solid dosage development, including pre-formulation, formulation and process development studies and analytical services. The company said the new facility has tripled its capacity to carry out contracts, reduced its costs and should also shorten project timelines.
Norwich Pharmaceuticals, a US firm offering contract development and manufacturing services, says it has created a new Norwich Clinical Services division to offer “a complete range of clinical research capabilities including phase I – IV trials, bioanalytical studies and pharmacovigilance monitoring services”. The unit will be led by Dr Saral Thangram, formerly the managing director of Bangalore, India-based CRO Lotus Labs.
PRA International has expanded its Asia-Pacific operations into New Zealand, setting up a new office there and hiring staff. The new office will work closely with PRA’s unit in Sydney, Australia. “New Zealand is a key research location for studies in skin cancer, multiple sclerosis, asthma and several other conditions,” said the CRO in a statement. New Zealand is recognised as having high trial recruitment rates, an efficient regulatory environment and “counter seasonality” – in other words influenza and allergy studies can continue after the season in the Northern Hemisphere closes.
Related Content
Contract research news in brief
Consolidation news in the CRO sector as Accelovance buys Radiant and PRA snaps up Clinstar, …
Contract research news in brief
Icon offers $52m for CCH’s clinical services division, plus updates from PPD, Aptuit, Argenta, Quintiles …
Contract research news in brief
Synteract agrees to by Harrison Clinical Research, WuXi forges JV with PR, plus appointments and …
