Roundup of CRO deals
Preclinical CRO (contract research organisation) MPI Research is working with Edge Therapeutics in a preferred provider relationship. MPI is supporting development of lead candidates at Edge by providing preclinical pharmacology and safety tests, as well as clinical analytical services.
“Partnering with MPI allows Edge to access additional expertise and capabilities on a larger scale, helping to advance our lead hospital products into clinical trials”, Loch Macdonald, chief scientific officer at Edge, said.
AMRI is trying to license and ink a contract manufacturing deal for a cancer treatment in late Phase I. The compound, a tubulin inhibitor, was developed by the in-house development team at AMRI before the CRO cut investment in the unit.
Having decided to halt investment AMRI is left with several compounds in preclinical and Phase I that another company could progress. Thomas D’Ambra, CEO of AMRI, said: “We will continue to pursue strategic opportunities to enable AMRI to advance the clinical development of our other compounds.”
Bessor Pharma is now the most likely destination for the tubulin inhibitor. The firm has an exclusive option, lasting eight months, to license the compound. Over this period Bessor Pharma will do more due diligence, raise funds, and work with AMRI on technology transfer and advanced development.
Quintiles is working with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) on medication monitoring. ADA website users will, if they opt in, receive free safety checks of their drugs to identify interactions and other possible risks. Quintiles already provides the service to users of its site MediGuard.org.
“We are very pleased to offer this medication monitoring service. This collaboration with Quintiles enables the Association to provide important safety information at no cost to our constituents”, Vivian Fonseca, president, medicine and science at ADA, said.
