More CRO news

PPD just announced it is purchasing a large contract research organization in China and also is investing $100 million in Celtic Therapeutics. So what does this mean? It seems that PPD is taking drastic steps to diversify it's holdings and also get a foothold in the rapidly expanding Chinese drug development market. PPD has been hurt recently by the US regulatory environment and the ferocious competition among CROs to bid for new drug development contracts, so expanding internationally seems like the right thing for PPD to do (especially since PPD has struggled more than other CROs lately).

See PPD's news release on the buyout here and the move with Celtic here

In the same field, Parexel has decided that now is a good time to restructure and will use about $30 million to do so. Parexel has made some moves to increase its hold in the clinical trial market such as purchasing ClinPhone, but just like many other CROs there has been too much volatility for the status quo to continue. Look for Parexel to adopt a policy of more regionally based staff to cut down on travel expenses.

Read more about this in Pharatimes

Finally, Quintiles has announced it will partner with Eisai on a cancer drug development pipeline where Quintiles will be charged with conducting as many as 11 trials on a new cancer therapy. This falls right in line with Quintiles' efforts to get a better foothold in the oncology research market, and coupled with the company's recent restructuring efforts, the partnership will likely benefit Quintiles significantly, especially if the trials go well. Sounds like a savvy move by a major player in the CRO industry...

Check out the Triangle Business Journal article