With M&A activity dominating Big Pharma's agenda at the moment, the contract research market is having to evolve and adapt to the turbulent environmnet. Outsourcing-pharma asked Frost & Sullivan analyst Barath Shankar to offer his opinion...
Cardiology and eClinical specialist eResearch Technology missed analysts estimates of sales and earnings in the fourth quarter of 2008, but still posted a near-14 per cent increase in operating profit.
Synexus' new trial site in Bulgaria, which is part of the firm’s clinical research centre strategy, will help sponsors cut development times and significantly reduce costs, according to CEO Michael Fort.
Kendle International posted a 22 per cent drop in net income to $5m, after a computer error led to problems with a clinical trial carried out for one of its customers.
Study site operators want greater use of EDC technologies and more pharma industry investment to boost patient recruitment and reduce delays in clinical trials, according to an industry report due to be published next week.
Contract research organisation Bio-Imaging Technologies posted a 48 per cent hike on revenues in the fourth quarter of 2008, but still made a small net loss on the back of its CapMed division, which was sold last month.
US software specialist etrials Worldwide has added Belgian rival Unithink to an ongoing lawsuit that accuses two former executives, Robert Sammis and Brendon Ball, of breaching confidentiality agreements.
Charles River Laboratories will reduce its workforce by 3 per cent, close its preclinical facility in Arkansas, US and sell off its Phase I trial site in Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a cost reduction programme.
Compass Pharma Services is targeting contract drug developers and clinical research firms with a new microfilling offering that, it claims, helps reduce waste and may even make excipients unnecessary in some drugs.
Russia approved 615 clinical trials last year, a 9 per cent increase over 2007, lending weight to the notion that the country is becoming a global hub for clinical testing.
US company PRA International has entered into a strategic collaboration with two contract research organizations (CROs) in Southeast Asia in order to tap the fast-growing clinical research market in the region.
US contract development firm Azopharma has begun offering microdosing at its AvivoClin facility in Daytona Beach, Florida, joining market leaders like Xeleron and Covance in the Phase 0 trial sector.
Contract research organisation Bio-Imaging Technologies has decided to sell off its CapMed subsidiary in order to focus its efforts on its core business, providing imaging series to clinical investigators.
The proportion of global clinical trials conducted In India is expected to more than double between 2007 and 2012, according to market research firm RNCOS.
Dr. Michael Butler has joined Xceleron as chief executive bringing an end to a search to replace Prof Colin Garner, the firm’s founder, who is retiring from the post.
There is no formal requirement to inform clinical trial participants of the results of the study, a situation which can leave them “confused, frustrated and, in some cases, lacking information that may be important to their health,” according to a report...
Icon's recent $43.2m acquisition of New York-based Prevalere Life Sciences is the latest part of the firm's expansion in the US CRO market. Outsourcing-Pharma spoke with Icon's VP of bioanalytical development, Brian O'Dwyer, and Prevalere...
India’s Bilcare has expanded its clinical trial materials business in its own market with the opening of new packaging and storage capacity at its facilities in Pune, India.
Quintiles Transnational has boosted its array of services for companies developing cancer drugs via the purchase of Illinois, US-based firm Targeted Molecular Diagnostics.
Chinese CRO Tigermed Consulting has teamed up with Russian and South Korean counterparts OCT and LSK to establish a global clinical trials network and expand its geographic footprint.
Contract drug development company Azopharma Product Development has set up a new business unit to cater for companies wanting to run microdosing or so-called Phase 0 studies.
Pharmaceutical Profiles of the UK has completed a groundbreaking study that bundles together a number of tests used to decide whether a drug development candidate is worth pursuing into a single clinical trial.
Clinical trials that support the effectiveness of drugs filed for approval in the US are more likely to be published than those that are less supportive, according to researchers at the University of California at San Francisco.
Bilcare GCS, the clinical supplies arm of Indian packaging giant Bilcare, has considerably expanded its Phase III trial offering in an effort to provide drugmakers with a complete package.
eClinical specialist Phase Forward has added to its portfolio by purchasing interactive-response technology company Clarix for $40m in cash in a move aimed at toppling ClinPhone from its leading position in the sector.
Contrary to fears, the European Union’s Clinical Trials Directive has not had an inhibitory effect on the number of studies carried out by publicly-funded researchers, at least in Denmark.
Like many of its peers in the contract clinical research sector, data management specialist Phase Forward put in another bumper financial performance in the second quarter headed by a 30 per cent hike in revenues to $41m.
As eClinical gathers momentum, Outsourcing-Pharma.com spoke to two
contract research organisations (CROs), Icon and Parexel, to get
their views on the present and future of these emerging
technologies.
Two major bioscience industry trade associations have called for
changes to be made to the European clinical trials directive in
order to bring about "harmonisation, transparency and consistency"
in this area across the...
Outourcing-Pharma focus on: FDA clinical trial initiatives
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signalled it will
soon allow a new "adaptive" approach to clinical trials in order to
streamline drug testing and speed drugs to market.
Outsourcing-Pharma focus on: cutting the cost of clinical trials
As pharma companies flock towards Eastern Europe and India in a bid
to cut direct clinical trial costs, does outsourcing actually
translate into real world cost-savings?
