PPD buys BioDuro to get bigger in China
pharmafile | December 1, 2009 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â CRO, China, emÂ
Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) has expanded its capacity to offer drug development services in Asia once again with the acquisition of Beijing-based drug discovery specialist BioDuro.
BioDuro employs 660 staff and focuses on early-stage research and development, from compound synthesis through to the delivery of optimised drug development candidates.
The Chinese firm operates an 110,000-sq. ft. laboratory in Beijing where it provides medicinal chemistry, biology, pharmacology, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetic and safety services.
China is a powerful draw for contract research organisations, as its pharmaceutical market is growing rapidly and it is an attractive recruiting environment for clinical trials, with a huge patient population to draw on and large, centralised hospitals which make trials easier to organise and keep costs low.
“China is a strong, emerging area for clinical research as evidenced by its 21% compounded annual growth rate over the past five years,” said David Grange, chief executive of PPD.
Those features also make China attractive growth market for pharmaceutical manufacturers, and PPD, like many other western CROs, is working on building up a presence there in order to grab a slice of that new business.
BioDuro works with nine of the top 12 drugmakers, and earlier this year unveiled wide-ranging new contracts with AstraZeneca and Roche, providing integrated services across the early-stage drug development spectrum.
The BioDuro announcement comes shortly after PPD closed its acquisition of another Chinese contract research organisation, Excel PharmaStudies, which has 300 employees and focuses on late-stage (phase II to IV) clinical studies.
That in turn followed the creation of an alliance with Peking Union Lawke Biomedical Development Limited in 2008, which allowed it to start offering central laboratory services to support clinical trial sponsors.
Financial details of the BioDuro deal, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009, were not disclosed.
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