A new strategic alliance between India’s Asian Clinical Trials (ACT) and China’s VPSCRO aims to capitalise on the dynamic trend in outsourcing to these markets by offering reciprocal clinical trial services to global sponsors.
ACT’s parent, biopharmaceutical company Suven Life Sciences, said hooking up with VPSCRO will enable the two contract research organisations (CROs) to offer a comprehensive range of clinical services through a state-of-the-art infrastructure and network of trained investigators in India and China.
“Together we will partner to build a world-class CRO platform to conduct clinical trials in Asia Region,” commented Dr Charlie Xu, director, global business development for VPSCRO.
Some 50% of the global population are living in India and China and there is growing demand in the pharmaceutical industry to tap into diversified patient groups, noted Venkatraman Sunder, vice-president, operations for ACT.
The strategic alliance with VPSCRO will be a platform for fully fledged, high-quality, cost-effective clinical research services with the key benefit of rapid patient recruitment, he added.
ACT is a full-service CRO based in Hyderabad and specialising in Phase II, III and IV clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas, post-marketing surveillance and clinical data management.
VPSCRO is part of the Beijing-based Venturepharm Group, whose activities span clinical research as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing, marketing and sales services, development and licensing of new chemical entities, venture capital and merchant banking. The CRO is billed as the largest in China, with more than 40 offices and facilities across Asia.
VPSCRO is also China’s leading CRO in terms of the number of ongoing clinical trials, with services ranging from preclinical testing to clinical development, product commercialisation, data management and Phase IV post-marketing studies. Oncology, the central nervous system, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, gastrointestinal conditions, respiratory disease and allergies are particular areas of expertise.
Venturepharm recently demonstrated its international clout by acquiring a 39% stake in US research and development services company Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc (CBI).
The two companies have also formed a joint venture, Venturepharm Asia, to establish what CBI called “the first fully integrated, US-China based pharmaceutical contract research organisation” (CRO).
