It has been another few weeks of activity for the budding eClinical
industry as sponsors across the globe continue to move away from
paper toward electronic reporting in clinical trials.
Charles River Laboratories is the latest in a series of large
contract research organisations making acquisitions to beef up
their Phase I capacity as this market sector remains hot.
Germany's Vetter Pharma-Fertigung has announced its plan to expand
its services by adding vial filling for lyophilised - or
freeze-dried - products to its portfolio.
Rising contract research organisation (CRO) and investigator fees
are being blamed in a new report as largely contributing to the
skyrocketing cost of new drugs.
UK-based Synexus Clinical Research is continuing its global
movements with the latest acquisition of South African outfit
Clinical Research Centers (CRC).
Pharma companies that aren't maximising their outsourcing potential
in clinical research may be wasting a world of opportunity.
OutsourcingPharma.com gives a brief run down of exactly what kinds
of services and providers are...
As the Asia-Pacific continues to be a hotspot for clinical trials
activity, e-clinical provider ClinPhone has opened its first office
in the region in the hope of gaining a head start.
PPD managed a net revenue of $313.1m (€250m) for the third quarter
of 2006, an increase of 14.6 per cent over net revenue of $273.3m
for the third quarter of 2005. This has been buoyed on by the
strong performance by the company's...
As it steps up its presence in the major clinical trials
recruitment hubs in Asia, Quintiles has announced its intention to
open a central lab in India to help feed its expanding network of
clinical trial operations in the country.
As the clinical trial activities continue to flock towards emerging
countries such as India, Morocco wants its share has been making
efforts to make itself attractive to international trial sponsors.
Paraxel has acquired a $65m (€52m) US business that will inflate
its early phase capacity enough to make it one of the largest
providers of Phase I services in the world and help "return its US
operations to profitability".
Falling foul of the patient recruitment problems that are plaguing
the industry, RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals has recruited an
undisclosed contract research organisation (CRO) to help it with
the mountainous task.
After opening its first large scale clinical research facility
earlier this year in the US through its new clinical research
division, Qualia Clinical Service, Holmes Biopharma is starting to
see the business gain momentum.
AAIPharma is showing the first signs of life after bankruptcy,
buying its first company after emerging from the ordeal - a
French-based clinical research organisation (CRO).
GTC Biotherapeutics and LFB Biotechnologies have entered into a
collaboration, which focuses on recombinant plasma proteins and
monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to eventually develop a robust
pipeline for treating conditions such as haemophilia.
A new firm called Clinical Conduct Associates has been launched in
Ireland in the hope of attracting new clinical research business to
this "underutilised region" from pharmaceutical companies
throughout Europe.
Mobious Genomics has announced a prototype version of a new
immunoassay that identified a low concentration bacterial sample
within 40 seconds, vastly improving on the six - forty eight hours
it currently takes to identify the same...
Roche spokesperson Chris Kirkpatrick speaks on the advantages of
using a contractor as a research partner at the recent Pabord
pharmaceutical show in London.
As India's clinical trials industry continues to explode, lack of
experienced clinical research employees in the region is slowing
down progress and leading to fierce poaching between firms.
When it comes to managing an early phase research and clinical
development programme, drug companies have three choices - each
with their own pros and cons.
INC Research has expanded its late phase contract research
capabilities with the purchase of a contract research organisation
(CRO) in Philadelphia, US.
AstraZeneca have entered a deal with drug delivery device service
provider Bang & Olufsen Medicom to develop a new electronic
monitor that can tell whether patients are correctly taking their
medication or not.
Contract Research Organisations (CRO) involved in clinical trial
services may benefit from a new technique that allows researchers
to statistically analyse results of clinical trials.
A draft guidance has been published by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to help the industry wade through the
potential minefield of conducting clinical research on patients
without informed consent, in cases of emergencies.
The clinical trials industry is struggling to cope with the burden
of maintaining adequate drug accountability documentation for
regulatory compliance.
Australia's AtCor Medical will supply an undisclosed US
pharmaceutical company with central blood pressure reading and
clinical trial support services in a deal worth $1.48m (€1.2m).
US blood products and services provider HemaCare has added a new
research segment to the company with the acquisition of private US
firm Teragenix for $4.8m (€3.7m).
Large global contract research organisation, SFBC International,
has changed its name to PharmaNet Development Group in a bid to
make a fresh start and turnaround the troubled business after a
long period of bad press, legal difficulties...
California-based Synteract has scored a clinical trial management
contract from Northwest Biotherapeutics to bring one of the world's
first personalised medicines into a late stage clinical trial.
PPD International has launched a new software system that it claims
can speed up the review time of safety and endpoint-driven data
from large-scale clinical trials or registries.
Contract research organisations (CROs) are slashing clinical trial
times by an average of 30 per cent and the outsourcing trend is
showing no signs of slowing, as the pharma industry continues to
face rising pressure to reduce time-to-market...
Global drug development spending will top $105bn (€81.5bn) by 2010
and 40 per cent of this business is expected to be dished out in
outsourcing contracts - with contract research organisations (CROs)
emerging triumphant.
Pharma firms may soon have the chance to use US prisoners in
clinical drug trials after a new report by a panel of medical
advisers at the Institute of Medicine recommended government laws
against the practice be loosened.
Canada's Allied Research International (ARI) has expanded its Phase
I testing capabilities in response to the continued need for extra
capacity in this area.
The use of eClinical software in clinical trials is gaining in
popularity with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and contract research
organizations (CROs), as seen by the recent financial results of
two major industry providers.
Quintiles has turned its latest investment back towards home soil,
announcing plans to open a new US clinical data processing centre
in Williamston, North Carolina.
Covalent Group has signed a $1.7m (€1.3m) contract with a new,
undisclosed pharma firm to carry out a Phase II trial on a new drug
for atherosclerosis - a disease affecting the arterial blood
vessels throughout the body.
As global contract research spending remains robust, business is
booming for Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) as the US firm
reported a surge in sales, profits and new business for its second
quarter 2006.
