US-based contract research organisation (CRO) Kendle has opened a second office in western India, supplementing its existing operation in New Dehli.
The new office is in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state. Kendle established a presence in New Dehli five years ago and the CRO has additional growth plans for India in 2009 to meet customer needs.
“Expansion in the Asia/Pacific region, and India in particular, is essential to our continued success as a top global CRO,” said chairman and chief executive officer Candace Kendle. “Our increased presence and capacity in the region will allow us to better meet the needs of our customers who are seeking to capitalise on India’s cost-effective, yet high-quality clinical research capabilities to develop their compounds.”
The Ahmedabad office will build on Kendle’s “already strong” presence in New Dehli, offering increased efficiencies and geographical coverage while providing access to the talent pool in the western part of India, the CRO noted.
“With more than one billion people, a growing and improving research infrastructure, an efficient and evolving regulatory setting, favorable intellectual property laws, a large pool of medical professionals and established research credentials, India is quickly becoming a world power in clinical research,” it added, citing analysts’ estimates that by 2011 as many as 15% of all global trials will be conducted in India.
