eResearch Technologies (ERT) posted a Q2 operating income of $4.8m (€3.4m), down from $10.8m last year, and attributed the decline to companies delaying thorough QT trials.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Omnicare have closed a clinical trial site in India operated by the contract research organisation (CRO) amid accusations that an investigator acted fraudulently.
Italian contract research organisation (CRO) Pierrel has acquired Encorium’s US clinical trial operations in a $2.7m (€1.9m) deal that could provide a much needed lifeline for the troubled group.
US CRO PPD has laid off around 80 people at its HQ in Wilmington, North Carolina and may cut another 200 jobs from its North American workforce, according to local media reports.
India and China share many similarities as outsourcing locations but there are also significant differences that are important to understand before making a commitment, according to a report.
Chinese CROs Sundia MediTech, Huiyuan Biotechnology and Frontage Laboratories are the first companies grated express customs clearance privileges under new government pro outsourcing rules.
Outsourcing-Pharma presents its latest round up of movements in the pharmaceutical outsourcing sector, including appointments at WuXi, Dishman and Sartorius Stedim.
Gentronix has partnered with Apredica to provide a predictive toxicology service, which the companies believe can reduce the failure rates of drugs in late-stage development, saving clients time and money.
US contractor Velesco Pharmaceutical Services has leased a new clinical trial materials manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, extending its range of preclinical and early trial development services.
Swedish CRO Syntagon has set up an office in Shanghai, China to forge stronger links with a broader range of local raw materials suppliers, saving its customers time and money.
Biotechs use smaller CROs as much as larger service providers and regard patient recruitment speed as by far the most important characteristic, according to a report.
UK CRO Quotient Bioresearch has bought a clinical research facility in Edinburgh, Scotland, which in conjunction with an existing unit in Nottingham, England will serve as a base for its new Quotient Clinical unit.
Piramal Healthcare’s new clinical trial manufacturing, packaging and distribution centre in Northumberland, UK will help pharma industry customers to “build cost saving at an early stage,” according to European strategic manager Martin Hunt.
eClinical provider Datatrak has posted flat revenues in Q1 but its operating loss was badly affected by the severance packages of two executive officers.
US non-clinical contract research firm Wil Research Laboratories has reduced its 700 strong workforce by 4 per cent, citing a drop in business due to the global economic downturn as the basis for the cuts.
Charles River Laboratories (CRL) has bucked the CRO sector trend and reaffirmed its forecasts for 2009, citing an improved order book and better pricing as the reasons for its relative optimism.
Clinical trial software provider Phase Forward posted strong Q1 financial results, with CRO related revenues jumping by 52 per cent despite the difficulties facing companies in the sector.
Icon’s net new business fell by 28 per cent in Q1 but the overall picture was better, with operating profits rising by 25 per cent and a US acquisition expanding its Phase I capacity.
19 out of 21 pharmaceutical companies surveyed by Cutting Edge Information ranked a contract research organisation’s ability to hit trial deadlines as either “extremely important” or very “important,” making it the top quality identified by respondents.
US firm Kendle is the latest CRO to revise its forecast and blame “unprecedented biopharmaceutical industry conditions,” which are fast becoming an industry catchphrase, for its Q1 woes.
PPD’s revenues dipped in Q1 as the company was hit by contract cancellations totaling $215m (€166m), which included a $77m deal with a large biotech for a multinational clinical trial.
From June onwards drug firms and CROs conducting trials in India are required to record full details of the research, including the funding source, on the ICMR’s Clinical Trials Registry India website.
Companies seeking research services in India and China will now be able to use a single contact following an alliance between GVK BIO and Excel, which the companies claim is the first to span the two nations.
The past few days have seen a string of announcements from contract research organisations (CROs) which indicate that their appetite for international expansion and development remains unsated.
Just weeks after expanding its relationship with AstraZeneca, Chinese CRO BioDuro has been asked by Swiss drug major Roche to help with its discovery phase R&D programme.
ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services has expanded its activities into the Asian market via the purchase of Chinese contract research organisation (CRO) Paramax International.
Porsolt, a French contract research organisation (CRO) specialising in preclinical pharmacology services, has said it plans to open a new facility in Europe as well as boost its presence on the other side of the Atlantic.
Money can be saved throughout early-stage and Phase II trials by using the Collect, Ready, Hold service in preemption of a central review of imaging data, according to WorldCare Clinical.
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.
UK-headquartered Premier Research Group has signed a deal to buy the assets of fellow contract research organisation (CRO) Pivotal Research Centers, a specialist in Phase I to IIa trials, for $4.75m.
Troubled contract research organisation Encorium Group finally published its delayed financial results yesterday, posting a net loss of $3.9m, three times the year-earlier loss.
The US CRO market is predicted to have a healthy future, with the greatest potential for growth in the preclinical sector, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan.
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.
Kendle International has posted impressive third quarter results, despite seeing a dramatic increase in the number of contract cancellations during the period.
Covance has defied challenging market conditions and posted positive results for the third quarter, with the company believing more major R&D outsourcing contracts are a possibility.
PPD has been selected as the full-service preferred provider for translational clinical development services by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
US contract research organisation Encorium Group has postponed its planned acquisition of Prologue Research International and cut staff in the latest twist in a rollercoaster ride for the firm in recent weeks.
US CRO group Encorium has signed new contracts worth around $6.2m (€4.1m) under which it will conduct trials of a developmental vaccine on behalf of a global biopharmaceutical company.
US trial firm ACRI and contract research organisation (CRO) Clinesian have teamed up to target the pharmaceutical sector’s ever growing demand for integrated clinical development capacity.
Outsourcing-Pharma.com presents its latest round-up of new appointments, employment moves and personnel news in the pharmaceutical contract services sector.
