Holmes Biopharma has expanded the bed capacity of its Phase I facility in Omaha, Nebraska by one third after adding an additional 10,000 sq. ft of space.
The firm opened the facility early last year through its then new clinical research division, Qualia Clinical Service, and since then the business has been gaining momentum.
"Our expansion enables us to keep up with our continuous growth and it translates into increased revenue and greater profitability," said Dr Sohail Khattak, president and CEO of Qualia.
Holmes Biopharma is one of a number of North American companies who are making moves to expand in the under-represented area of Phase I clinical research services and pinning their hopes on the continuing trend of biopharma firms seeking to have these tasks undertaken by external providers.
In other clinical news, MDS Pharma Services has been awarded a prize for the clinical research program that best promotes access to new medicines, as part of a number of inaugural recognitions been handed out by the Good Clinical Practice Journal (GCPj).
The company was chosen "for its successful management of a large-scale Phase III malaria drug trial involving more than 2,700 patients in Laos, India, Thailand, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia", said MDS in a statement.
The study was conducted by the contract research organisation (CRO) on behalf of an international collaboration between Sigma-Tau, a drug company based in Italy; the non-profit Medicines for Malaria Venture, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; China's Chongqing Holley pharmaceutical company; along with Britain's Oxford University.
Meanwhile, industry body the Pharmaceutical Society of India (PSI), has given its official approval to the clinical research training programmes offered by Cliniminds - Academy for Clinical Research Education & Training.
Together the organisations are now planning to run collaborative clinical research programs and workshops programs for pharmaceutical companies and CROs across the country.
As we turn our eyes to India, Huclin Research has scored a Rs. 16 Crore (€2.4m) clinical research contract from a global US-based pharma company, the name of which could not be revealed by the Chennai-based firm.
"Our research on the current contract will include bioequivalence studies and method development," said Dr Mahalingam Vasudevan, executive director of the company.
Vasudevan said that Huclin specialises in helping firms that are developing generic versions of drugs:
"A pharmaceutical player who engages in making a similar drug using the same formula [off a drug that has gone off-patent] must prove that its new drug is the same as that produced by the finder. Pharmaceutical companies mostly outsource this research activity, which is where HRL steps in".
He added that over the next three years up to $40bn worth of drugs will be coming off patent around the world and he expects his firm to pick up "a sizeable chunk" of this business - starting with two or three new contracts by the end of the year.