Swiss contract research organisation (CRO) PFC Pharma Focus has signed a partnership agreement with Blanchard y Asociados, a clinical research consulting firm based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to provide clinical and project management services in South America.
The partnership draws on Blanchard y Asociados’ “extensive training experience and wide-ranging network of experts throughout South America” to expand PFC’s existing international presence to countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile, the Swiss company noted, adding that its partner will offer “the same services as those delivered by PFC head offices, and in accordance with the same standards of excellence”.
The available services in South America will include clinical trial management as well as study monitoring, patient recruitment and regulatory affairs. “With our modular project management we can give our clients quick and cost-effective answers from crafting an effective proposal to successful study completion,” said Ran Frenkel, vice president business development for PFC Pharma Focus.
Founded in 1992 with headquarters in Volketswil (Zurich), Switzerland, PFC Pharma Focus aims to “bring a new look to the drug development experience by addressing the limitations of conventional study practices”.
The CRO has been gradually widening its global reach, setting up PFC Pharma Focus GmbH in Munich, Germany in 1999; striking an alliance with PharmaResearch Corporation for the US and the UK in 1999; tying up with SocraTec R&D in Germany in 2002; establishing partnerships or regional offices in Romania, Bulgaria and India during 2005; and expanding into Israel in 2006 with the formation of Pharma Focus Ltd in Tel Aviv.
Last October ethica Clinical Research, a CRO based in Montreal, Canada, extended its ethics review services into South America through a joint venture with Blanchard y Asociados.
