Lab Research lands new preclinical R&D contracts
The firm, which also signed an R&D deal with a European agrochemicals major, will undertake preclinical research on behalf the as yet unidentified drug industry majors at its testing facility in Laval in Quebec, Canada.
Over the last three years Lab Research has spent C$65m (€41.8) expanding the lab as well as two other testing facilities in Denmark and Hungary adding capacity which, Mainville said, had played a part in winning the new R&D contracts.
He told Outsourcing-pharma that: “It is clear that adding scale and broadening our services to include bioanalytical, drug metabolism, reproductive toxicology and more inhalation have been key factors.
“But I think that it is a combination of our capabilities and high quality and flexibility as a mid-size lab that has contributed to each of these agreements.”
Mainville also highlighted Lab Research’s expertise and track record in safety pharmacology, infusion and primate modelling as being the key technical capabilities that had landed the new contracts.
He concluded that: “Clearly our ability to expand our client audience to include larger and sophisticated recurrent spenders has alleviated somewhat the negative impact of the recession.”
In a press release accompanying the announcement Lab Research said that the contracts are likely to lead to more deals later this year, adding that discussions are already ongoing for work to be conducted over the next two years.
The non-clinical contract research organisation (CRO) predicted that the latest deals and subsequent agreements will contribute between five and 10 per cent of its total revenue for the current year.
