Contract research news in brief

Charles River places its proposal to merge with China's WuXi PharmaTech in front of its shareholders, while ClinTec and Synexus expand into new markets.

Charles River Laboratories is scheduling a meeting of shareholders on 5 August to vote on its proposed $1.6 billion acquisition of Chinese contract research organisation WuXi PharmaTech. CRL believes adding add WuXi's expertise in discovery chemistry to its own strengths in in vivo biological research is a compelling strategy, but is struggling to win over a core of investors who claim the move adds too much operational and financial risk to the company.

UK-based CRO Synexus is expanding its operations in Poland with the opening of a new research centre in Gydnia which follows the expansion of its unit in Wroclaw. The Gydnia centre will house a range of diagnostic instruments to support Synexus' patient recruitment and clinical trial activities.

Quintiles has named the University Malaya Medical Centre as the latest of its Prime Sites - large clinical institutions which collaborate with the contract research organisation in the conduct of clinical trials. UMMC is the first prime site in Asia, joining Southern California Permanente Medical Group and Washington Hospital Centre in the US, Queen Mary's College in London in the UK and the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Meanwhile, Quintiles has been named the 2010 Asia Pacific contract research organisation company of the year by Frost & Sullivan. The CRO opened its first office in the region in 1993 and now operates more than 20 offices in 14 Asia-Pacific countries.

ClinTec International of the UK has opened an office in New York and appointed Susan Pavone as associate director of US business operations in an expansion of its stateside operations. To date the company has focused its US business on partnering with local CROs with little or no international presence, but now wants to be able to offer its services in the US alone. Pavone joins ClinTec from Pfizer, where she ran the drugmaker's internal CRO operation.

ICON Clinical Research and Technical Resources International have won a contract from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to provide clinical research support which could be worth up to $171 million over the next seven years. The two firms will help with protocol development, clinical site monitoring, training, pharmacovigilance, information data systems and quality management

Phil Taylor