inVentiv Clinical the latest CRO to go Latin

Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the chosen location of the company's first foray into the region, with the plan being to expand operations to other Latin American countries in the near future. Rival CRO MDS Pharma Services also established an office in the same location only last month. "Having already established full off-shore operations in India, the expansion of our clinical operations into Latin America is an important next step in our goals to become a global clinical services provider,"​ said Mike Hlinak, President and CEO of inVentiv Clinical. Latin America is of growing importance to the drug development industry, with Brazil - where it is estimated that 645 Phase I-IV clinical trials are currently taking place - followed by Argentina, leading the way for the region. Drug development activity exploded in Brazil between 1995 and 2000, when the country experienced a 1000 percent increase in clinical trial activity. The incidence of heart disease, arthritis, cancer and infectious diseases in Brazil is on par with the US, although a greater percentage of the Brazilian population is treatment-naive, providing a major source of potential clinical trial participants who are not taking prescription drugs that could interact or interfere with the drug being tested - a major drawcard. Citing 2006 figures, Brazil's $8.4bn pharma industry is growing at a rate of 24 per cent and the country also has abundant healthcare resources, including more than 237,000 qualified physicians and more than 46,000 health institutions. The Southern Hemisphere location is another lure of Brazil and its Latin American neighbours. Because they experience summer when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, their inclusion in multi-centre trials allows CROs to offer their pharma clients year-round testing of drugs for seasonally-induced conditions such as allergies and other respiratory ailments. To drive its Latin American expansion, the firm has recently appointed Ana Paula Ruenis to the role of Director of Clinical Operations, Latin America based upon her experience working in the region for the last eight years. Houston, US-based inVentiv Clinical's parent company inVentiv Health has been expanding across several business areas over the past year. After making three acquisitions in the two months prior, last April inVentiv Health expanded capacity in two of its divisions to meet the needs of its jump in client base. Promotech, a division of inVentiv Commercial that provides marketing support services to the pharma industry, doubled the amount of space it has available in its literature warehouse and fulfillment centre in Louisville, Colorado, after opening an additional 19,500 square feet. The second division to experience a growth spurt was GSW Worldwide, a part of inVentiv Communications, and one of the largest healthcare advertising agencies in the world. The division opened a new office in Newtown, Pennsylvania with the creation of 20-25 new jobs.