ClinTec International, the UK-based contract research organisation (CRO) with a strong presence in emerging regions including the Middle East and Africa, has expanded its operations into Malawi and is boosting its capabilities in vaccine development.
A driver for these moves is that an unnamed “top five pharmaceutical company with sales exceeding US$50 billion” has chosen ClinTec as its preferred partner for vaccine development in Africa and Asia. The vaccines market worldwide is worth an estimated US$33.8 billion, the CRO notes.
Africa is “a pivotal region for the development of adult and paediatric vaccines against infectious diseases and ClinTec is well placed to participate in these programmes”, the company says.
In preparation, ClinTec has appointed its first clinical research associates in Malawi. The CRO is also in the process of recruiting “highly skilled personnel with vaccine research experience” to join its established teams in Africa and Asia.
International expansion
ClinTec was among the first CROs to establish a presence in the Middle East and Africa, and the company has continued to strengthen its presence in emerging markets as well as the more traditional Western European territories for clinical research, it points out.
Founded in 1997 by president and chief executive officer Dr Rabinder Buttar, the CRO now has a presence in more than 40 developed and emerging markets, spanning Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Central and South Africa, Latin America, India and the US.Buttar sees “huge potential for the company in conducting large-scale vaccine trials”.
