Preclinical

Building a 'better' CRO as sponsors drive industry consolidation

20-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

As sponsors drive CROs to consolidate, building a firm the size of Iqvia would take more than 20 years organically, says consultant – who shares the stuff of nightmares (and dreams).

AAPS PharmSci 360

Animal models are less informative than a coin flip, says AAPS speaker

19-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

The predictive value of animal models is less than 50%, which makes them less informative than a coin flip, says AAPS speaker – who also argues that clinical trial participants are not fully aware of the risks.

AAPS PharmSci 360

Man’s best friend: Using shared diseases in humans and dogs to support drug development

19-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

More than six million pet dogs are diagnosed with cancer every year – posing researchers with the opportunity to co-develop drugs for humans and animals.

FDA looks to reduce the number of clinical trials in dogs

19-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

The FDA has proposed a study to create a non-animal based model for drug development as part of its overall commitment to reduce the number of animals used in research.

Synteract acquires KinderPharm to be ‘one-stop shop’ for pediatric clinical trials

19-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Synteract’s clients will benefit from a single source model, says CEO, following the acquisition of KinderPharm, a PA-based CRO focused on all phases of pediatric drug development.

AAPS PharmSci 360

AI and computational psychiatry: Finding ‘hidden cues’

16-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

The pharmaceutical industry has increasingly been adopting artificial intelligence – which has demonstrated the ability to predict instances of schizophrenia with 74% accuracy.

Quotient expands Reading facility tripling GMP capacity

15-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Quotient Sciences expanded its formulation development and clinical trial manufacturing operations at its Reading, UK facility.

TriNetX adds 190m patient claims to its Diamond Network

15-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

TriNetX announced it will add claims data from 190m patients to its network, including ambulatory care, medical claims, and pharmacy claims, to enable researchers to query and analyze the information.

Guest column

‘No one ever gets fired for hiring a Top 10 CRO.’ Why?

15-Nov-2018 By Matthew Barrows, senior business consultant

It’s a phrase we’ve all heard a thousand times – often from clients explaining why they didn’t go with your business as they’ve opted for the assumed ‘safe bet’ of a global leader.

Scientist.com to open in Japan after partnering with ‘several’ large pharma firms

15-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Scientist.com has more than 70 employees across the globe, with offices in San Diego, Boston, the UK – and soon, Japan, with plans to open several satellite offices across the country.

Charles River talks M&A on Q3 call: The ‘universe of possibilities is pretty robust’

14-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Charles River is eyeing M&A opportunities in every segment of its business, fueled by global market demand and a “fundamental shift” in the pharmaceutical industry, says CEO.

Supply chain summed up: Innovations, partnerships, and deals in 2018

13-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Supply chain companies have been busy in 2018. Here, we're wrapping up some of the big moves made over the last year.

3D printed brain helps characterize 11 lead compounds, neuropathological research

12-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Celprogen’s 3D printed brain organoids are being used for neurological disease stage research and compound characterization.

Science Exchange adds ADME/tox services to marketplace

12-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Science Exchange has entered into an agreement to offer users of its online marketplace access to Corning Life Sciences’ outsourced research services.

Yale taps Genesis CRO for drug discovery services

07-Nov-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Yale University is partnering with CROs to provide drug discovery services to awardees of the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation – which aims to bridge the gap between early-stage research and product development.

UK CRO RxCelerate sets up first US office in Boston

07-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

RxCelerate is opening its first office in the US to be closer to clients and meet a "huge demand" for drug discovery and development services in the greater Boston area.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup October '18

02-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

CROs this month have made significant new hires with WCG adding eight to its scientific leadership team, PPD hiring four, and BioIVT filling its new-created role of CCO.

Also, making the move from Bioclinica, David Kiger has been named...

Watchdog files lawsuit against FDA to revamp informed consent, citing 150 deaths

01-Nov-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

The lawsuit cites more than 150 alleged clinical trial-related deaths since 2014 with plaintiffs calling on the FDA to update current informed consent regulations.

Universal flu vaccine candidate demonstrates preclinical success

31-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

InvVax’s universal flu vaccine candidate has demonstrated preclinical success as the company prepares for a Phase I clinical trial, supported by a Series A fundraising round.

WuXi AppTec, Schrödinger launch ‘virtual global collaboration’ as part of drug discovery tie-up

30-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

The CRO WuXi AppTec and Schrödinger have launched Faxian Therapeutics, a new company that will focus on accelerating drug discovery and advancing new therapies through global collaboration.

Thermo Fisher expands center to ease clinical trial logistics

30-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Thermo Fisher opened a new business center and biorepository along with an expanded distribution center, to help support mounting demand for clinical trial supply chain logistics.

AAPS PharmSci 360 preview: ‘Small-conference feel and big-conference breadth’

30-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

AAPS PharmSci 360 is a new conference this year, created in response to a desire for “fresh science,” specifically with chemical and biomolecular components. So what can you expect?

Researchers test ‘the very premise of precision medicine,’ the future of trial design

29-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

A proof-of-concept study using patient-derived cells to test drug response in clinical trials demonstrates the benefits of precision medicine, movement to which is the future of study design, says researcher.

Update

Charles River teams with Distributed Bio to advance antibody discovery platform

25-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Charles River and Distributed Bio are creating an integrated antibody discovery and development platform as part of an exclusive partnership.

LabCorp expects continued growth from Covance, despite headwinds in 2019

25-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

LabCorp sees significant opportunity to grow its Covance Drug Development business in the face of a potentially challenging 2019 and is on track to deliver costs savings as part of its LaunchPad initiatives.

Velesco doubles cGMP analytical lab space with facility purchase

24-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Velesco Pharma has expanded its analytical research and development capabilities to meet a growing demand for its services after acquiring a new facility in Michigan.

Collaboration to advance high-throughput screening services

23-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Assay.Works and 2bind are partnering to expand the range of discovery services provided for companies in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, and academic organizations.

Quotient expands operations with early phase manufacturing site

23-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Quotient Sciences, a drug development services organization, will expand its operations with a new early phase formulation development and clinical trial manufacturing facility.

UK-based CRO Cresset and Elixir aim to brew new drug discovery platform

18-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

The CRO and software provider for small molecule discovery, Cresset, is collaborating with Elixir to create a new platform for efficient drug discovery.

Alpha Genesis providing purpose-bred macaques for vaccine development

18-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center will now provide purpose-bred Indonesian-origin cynomolgus macaques for use in vaccine development.

Evotec and Ferring targeting reproductive medicine in multi-year alliance

17-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Evotec AG and Ferring Pharmaceuticals are collaborating to discover and develop new small molecule therapies for the treatment of fertility and gynaecological conditions.

Apple lends a hand in knee and hip replacement clinical study

17-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Zimmer Biomet has tapped Apple and created an app to facilitate patient and treatment team connection as part of a clinical study that aims to enroll as many as 10,000 participants.

Discovery founded through merger, combined biospecimen repository tops 10m

17-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Four companies have merged under the name Discovery Life Sciences, joining forces to offer biospecimen analysis and procurement services.

Cellular therapy CDMO Cognate to create center of excellence with Terumo

16-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Under the collaboration, Cognate will integrate Terumo’s processing tools into its innovation labs and will serve as a technology reference center for Termo’s devices as well as a beta site for new technologies.

Charles River secures five-year, $95.7m insourcing contract

16-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Charles River will manage and provide staffing for NIAID’s vivarium and related research model operations to support biomedical research across multiple scientific disciplines.

‘The opportunities for AI to revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry are clear’: Report

11-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Researchers are using artificial intelligence to catalyze drug discovery and preclinical drug development - improving predictive models to guide efficient design and optimizing multi-drug regimens, as two recent examples.

Allergan joins TriNetX for real-time access to real-world data

11-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Allergan joined the TriNetX network to gain access to patient populations, protocol, and site identification through real-world data.

BioIVT acquires donor center to bring fresh blood products to European clients

10-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

BioIVT has acquired Clinical Trials Laboratory Services, a UK-based donor center, in an aim to provide fresh blood products to clients.

Growing need for CRO expertise in early phase research, overall demand seeing stable growth: Report

09-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

The outsourced pharmaceutical services industry is getting out of its comfort zone, leveraging resources and partnership and focusing on how to make improvements – as demand continues to increase, says CRO.

Selexis and Hoba collaborate on neuropathy pain treatment

09-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Selexis and Hoba Therapeutics have entered an agreement to advance Hoba’s clinical candidate for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain.

People on the Move: Outsourcing-Pharma roundup September '18

05-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Metrion has bolstered its drug discovery leadership team, CluePoints has upped its RBM services, and Concept Life Sciences has added to its analytical services division, among other moves this month in the outsourced pharmaceutical services industry.

Evotec signs fourth translational research agreement with Sanofi

04-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Evotec established an agreement with Sanofi to collaborate with academic institutions worldwide on early-stage translational projects.

In a bind? Comprehend releases risk detection and management platform for mid-sized CROs

03-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Comprehend, a clinical intelligence software company, has packaged its clinical trial risk detection and management service offerings to accommodate the needs of mid-sized CROs.

On the pathway to clinic, solubility remains one of the biggest hurdles: CDMO

03-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

For CDMOs, balancing time, formulation trends, and changing technologies are some of the obstacles on the pathway from formulation to the clinic.

Altasciences aims to create a new outsourcing paradigm, not to be the biggest: CEO

02-Oct-2018 By Melissa Fassbender

Altasciences’ acquisition of a preclinical testing business marks the “next major milestone” in the CRO’s goal to provide an integrated offering from lead candidate selection to proof of concept.

NLP engine aims to improve patient outcomes through efficient data review

01-Oct-2018 By Maggie Lynch

LabKey and Linguamatics have designed an integrated NLP data management solution to help accelerate clinical data abstraction and curation of unstructured notes and reports for clinical research.

'We were trying to build the plane at the same time as flying it,' says Biogen on Alzheimer's research

28-Sep-2018 By Maggie Lynch

Previous setbacks in Alzheimer’s disease research for disease-modifying treatments have set the stage for a pipeline of new medicines now moving into clinical trials, according to a recent PhRMA report.