Russia, Pakistan CRO alliance formed
formed a new alliance as the global clinical spread continues in
this industry.
Russia's Synergy Research Group has established an international partnership with Metrics Research, as part of its plans to form a worldwide CRO network that is capable of competing with global CROs on bids for large international multicentre clinical trials. Synergy's alliance network already includes CROs from the US, Europe, India and the Ukraine and Pakistan was chosen as the company's next target because the country is "one of the world's emerging clinical trials market today". Metrics' CEO, Khurram Zaki Khan, added that Pakistan is already "on the radar screen of multinational pharma companies and CROs", with several Phase II and III US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registration studies currently ongoing. "The Central and South Asian nexus is pivotal in providing clinical research services to the growing, evolving and competitive R&D industry of the world," said Khan. [This alliance] will "reap the benefits of this untapped market - especially at a time when the government of Pakistan and relevant ministries are promoting clinical research activities in Pakistan", he said. Sandwiched between the region's two major emerging pharma locations - India and China - Pakistan is now looking for its small share of the action. For the last ten years the country has been building up its capabilities in the pharma industry, including the establishment of drug manufacturing facilities, infrastructure and export capabilities. Since 2000 Pakistan has been in compliance with the TRIPPS agreement and has put in place intellectual property legislation and its pharma industry is now on the launching pad waiting to take off. In terms of its attractiveness as a place of clinical research, Pakistan has a population of 173m, and a vast number of treatment-naïve patients. Commenting on the alliance, Elena Zhuk, general director and CEO at Synergy, said: "Together we are able to offer our sponsors access to more than 300 million patients." Igor Stefanov, Synergy's director for business development added that now the company is able to conduct trials in Pakistan through its new partner, it is "planning some joint marketing and business development tasks, by preparing and sending proposals, and conduct presentations to the existing clients and prospects, and assisting each other with related language and cultural translation issues." Metrics is the first registered CRO in Pakistan and provides services that include project management, clinical operations and monitoring, data management, biostatistics, medical report writing, regulatory affairs and quality assurance.
