RPS, Asklep Form JV to Push Further into Japanese Market
“All studies will use RPS SOPs [standard operating procedures], systems and processes, with the added advantage of being able to utilize Asklep’s local expertise,” Nigel Tuck, senior director of strategic development at RPS, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
“This could be as part of a global or Pan-Asia outsourced study, or providing a team of embedded resources in the country. It is in this [embedded] area that we feel there are unmet needs.”
Although the “Dispatch Workers” business line is active in Japan, “it is fragmented,” and sponsors are not seeing the benefits that the RPS embedded model brings, Tuck said. He added that the RPS embedded model can deliver larger sponsors with “multi-million dollar cost savings, greater quality and the ability to manage more within their portfolio while retaining strategic control and effectively managing regulatory risk.”
In addition, RPS will be able to provide all of the same full service standalone projects to its clients in Japan that it currently provides for sponsors globally, Tuck said.
Alan Morgan, RPS' COO, will assume the role of CEO of the JV, in addition to his current responsibilities. The JV will be staffed with employees from both RPS and Asklep, “as well as new hires as RPS brings its proprietary staffing and recruitment engines to Japan to support the growth of the embedded model,” Tuck said.
“Japan is an important market for clinical development and this JV brings ownership and accountability with mutual success and long-term stability to the benefit of customers," Daniel Perlman, CEO and founder of RPS, said in a statement.
As far as the overall CRO market in Japan, Tuck noted it “continues to grow with an approximate 10% increase in the last 12 months. This growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.”
