Five independent contract research organisations (CROs) with operations stretching from Eastern to Western Europe have grouped together to form a new entity that will “act as one team and one company”.
That company is NEOX Europe, which takes its name from the largest member of the group, Czech CRO NEOX. Based in Prague, the Czech NEOX has more than 150 staff conducting Phase II-IV clinical trials in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The other companies and their respective operating territories are Hungary’s BiTrial (also Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia); Croatia’s SerMon (also Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Austria’s MM Consulting (also Germany and Switzerland); and NEOX Poland (Poland).
The decision to merge the five companies was the logical outcome of the existing close partnerships between the members, NEOX Europe explained.
It sprang from the realisation “that our current partnership model with companies in other countries needed to be upgraded”, said Pavel Marek, chief executive officer of the Czech NEOX.
“Global projects are more and more challenging, requiring well educated and trained staff,” Marek added. “This approach is vital in order to meet the increasing requests and needs of pharmaceutical companies.”
US office
EOX Europe will offer a broad range of clinical trial management and monitoring, patient recruitment, site identification and regulatory affairs services to clients in Europe but also worldwide. Part of the group’s expansion strategy is to open an office in the US and address clients there directly.
“We don’t want to run studies in USA, it is not where our expertise is,” commented NEOX medical director Petr Potužník. “Our intention is to show US-based clients that we are experts in Europe, and that it is possible to perform clinical trials in Europe very cost-effectively while still maintaining high quality standards.”
The group’s reach is further extended by its partner companies – Secret Files in the Nordic countries, Axonal in France and Belgium, and MediData in Italy – which can provide not only additional country coverage but complementary services.
With these partners included, NEOX Europe can muster a total staff of more than 350 and 10 offices in 18 countries, it notes.
The core group offices are in Hart bei Graz, Austria; Zagreb, Croatia; Prague, Czech Republic; Fényes, Hungary; Warsaw, Poland; Beograd, Serbia; and Kosice, Slovakia.
Unified standard operating procedures and processes, as well as advanced training and quality assurance systems, had already been introduced across the group to underpin its partnership activities, NEOX Europe pointed out.
