CROs continue to extend global reach
pharmafile | October 29, 2003 | News story | |Â Â Â
Contract research organisations from Europe and the US are continuing to expand their operations in order to meet the pharmaceutical industry demand for globalised services.
Oxford-based CRO Origin Pharmaceutical Services has expanded its operations by opening new offices in the US and Germany.
The move is part of Origin strategy to globalise its clinical operations and regulatory/drug development consultancy services.
"With the increasing need for [biotechnology and small pharmaceutical] companies to parallel their development on both side of the Atlantic, it became essential for us to have a credible presence in the USA," said Steve Smith, Origin's Managing Director.
He added that the initial focus of the Boulder, Colorado office would be on regulatory affairs and drug development consultancy, but planned to incorporate early-phase clinical development at a later date.
"This is the model we have in Europe and we believe it will also work in the USA," he said.
"We can now offer all our clients a US regulatory service fully integrated with the European operations,said Tony Mitchell, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Strategic Developing in the UK. he feedback about the US office from our current clients has been overwhelmingly positive and we are already finding it a huge advantage in the market place."
Heading the regulatory and strategic consulting group in the US will be Brenda Fielding, while Dr Gilbert Carnathan will lead Project Management. Both join from NaPro BioTherapeutics.
Origin's office near Cologne is the first of several planned expansions within Europe. In the past, the company has worked with small CROs in European countries to provide it with monitoring services, but now feels it needs to develop its own operations.
Meanwhile, US CRO Covance is expanding its European operations, with a new phase II-III clinical development office in Budapest. Eastern Europe is a rapidly growing area for clinical research, with industry R&D spend increasing an estimated $219 million between 1998 and 2000.
UK company Chiltern International is looking to strengthen its links with Japanese clients. The company Senior Business Development Executives Dr Faiz Kermani and Stuart McGuire will deliver a presentation on innovation and Japanese pharmaceutical R&D at the multi-industry UK-Japan High Technology Forum.
Held each year alternatively in the UK and Japan, the forums have traditionally focused on IT, electronics, telecomms and other such industries, with the aim of forging stronger economic and business links. This year, however, both countriesgovernments have asked for more involvement from the life sciences.
