First CRO alliance launched in China

Sundia Meditech, United Pharmatech and HD BioSciences, the three Shangai-based contract research organisations (CROs) at the root of the project will combine their respective expertise to provide a wider range of drug discovery and development services to their clients - from preclinical to clinical supply manufacturing. The firms are taking advantage of China's high position on the list of top outsourcing destinations for drug development and this is the first collaboration of its kind in the country. In the past five years, the Chinese CRO industry has become a booming market as more and more drug companies are choosing the region to find service providers capable of offering R&D services for all the stages of drug development. "Until now, however, there has been no single CRO in China that could meet this increasing demand,"​ said the companies in a joint statement. In response, the three CROs came up with the formation of a CROSA dedicated to fill this gap by providing a complete service to pharma and biotech companies. ​The newly formed CROSA will act as a single entity in the CRO market, the companies said, and will look at ways to cooperate even closer in the future. "Allying with United PharmaTech and HD BioSciences is the best way to quickly and successfully expand our business into the complete range of CRO services to fit the increased demands from our clients world wide while maintaining high quality and efficiency and minimising cost,"​ said Sundia CEO Dr Xiaochuan Wang. "It will change the landscape of China's pharmaceutical CRO industry."​​​Sundia MediTech, United Pharma and HD Biosciences will offer an exhaustive range of drug development services including lead optimization, molecular bio-assay development and tests, in vitro​ and in vivo​ PK/ADME research, as well as cGMP required intermediates and API for clinical trails, HD Biosciences CEO Dr. Xuehai Tan said.