Encorium Group, Holmes Biopharma and Novotech – Clinical contract news

Encorium Group has announced the extension of a data management contract it has in place with an undisclosed global pharma company. The fresh deal is set to bring in an additional $2m for the US-based contract research organisation (CRO), which specialises in the design and management of clinical trials and patient registries. The firs said it expects to recognise a significant amount of this revenue within the first half of the year. Kenneth Borow, Encorium's president and CEO, revealed that the data management work would be carried out by its subsidiary in Estonia, "where we have significant data management capabilities and a very beneficial cost structure".​ He also indicated that the company was planning to make a series of new business announcements over the next several weeks. This week, fellow domestic CRO Holmes Biopharma said it has inked a $1.6m contract with a "major" biotech company - its largest single contract signed to date. Under the agreement, the firm will conduct a Phase I trial at its facility in Omaha, Nebraska. No further details were disclosed. The company's Phase I site in Omaha was expanded by one third in the middle of last year when Holmes Biopharma added an additional 10,000 sq. ft of space, increasing the bed capacity. The firm opened the facility in early 2006 through its then new clinical research division, Qualia Clinical Service, and since then the business has been gaining momentum. 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 news, Australian CRO Novotech has signalled that two new offices that it has been preparing in Hyderabad, India and Seoul, South Korea, will become operational this month. Novotech has been "in rapid expansion mode"​ and has been keenly eyeing Asia as a key part of its growth plans. The firm has already secured a $7.3m investment from two biotech venture firms, BioPacificVentures and Co-Investor Capital Partners, to help facilitate its grand plans in the thriving CRO space, primarily expanding its reach into Asia as well as deeper within North America where it already has a presence.