Global Research Services, Quintiles and Icon – Clinical contract news

US-based contract research organisation (CRO) Global Research Services has launched a new web-based clinical trial management course in collaboration with the University of Rochester Medical Center. The training programme, titled "Managing Clinical Trials: A Comprehensive Continuing Education Course for Healthcare Professionals", will initially be available to US participants, however the CRO has plans to roll out the course to China by the middle of this year, and to Eastern Europe by the end of the year. Global Research said that China's increased participation in global drug development and the recent cooperative agreements between China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) presents a great opportunity to provide clinical-research training in Asia. The CRO and its university partner are already in negotiations with three major Chinese medical universities. Recently, Quintiles has revealed that it plans to soon open another office in one of the US' major research hubs, Wilmington, North Carolina. Already the CRO titan is in the throes of constructing a new headquarters in the state which will see it employ 1,000 new staff; the firm is also opened a new data management centre in the vicinity not so long ago. Furthermore, Quintiles also recently completed its previously announced new investor partnership, whereby One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase sold its stake in the firm and CEO Dennis Gillings, CBE, and other members of the management team have taken over as lead investors. As part of the changeover, with 3i also became a significant investor, while Temasek Holdings retained its current investor position. In other news, Ireland's Icon has forged a new collaboration agreement with the UK-based Medicines Evaluation Unit (MEU), allowing it access to an 18-bed hospital-based early phase research facility on the Wythenshawe Hospital site in Manchester. The CRO already runs an 80 bed clinical research unit in Manchester, although it is not hospital-based. Having a hospital-based clinical research facility is a significant bonus when conducting early phase studies, especially first-in-man trials, as it means that patients are within minutes of emergency care should any adverse reaction occur, as was the case with the infamous Tegenero study that Parexel ran in 2006. Thomas Frey, president of Icon Development Solutions, said that the unit's hospital location will give the firm "enhanced capabilities to run first-in-man studies". ​David Rogers, director of operations of MEU said that the new partnership "will allow the MEU to offer a full clinical trial portfolio to clients from first-in-man to later phase studies whilst still maintaining our core respiratory expertise".​