PPD opens lab in Singapore and confirms InnoPharm acquisition
PPD, a US-based global contract research organisation, plans to expand its laboratory services into Singapore in response to growing demand in South-east Asia.
PPD, a US-based global contract research organisation, plans to expand its laboratory services into Singapore in response to growing demand in South-east Asia.
The lab is expected to begin operations in June 2009 and will provide biopharmaceutical clients with a range of customised lab services.
The new lab strengthens PPD’s presence in Singapore, where for a number of years it has provided clinical development services including clinical trial management and monitoring, patient recruitment, site identification and regulatory affairs.
Agostino Fede, senior vice president of PPD, said: ‘South-east Asia is an attractive region for conducting clinical trials, and Singapore is an important biopharmaceutical hub.’
The equipment in Singapore is identical to that installed in PPD’s labs in Brussels, Belgium; Highland Heights, Kentucky; and Beijing, China. Assays will be extensively cross-validated among PPD’s locations to produce combinable data.
PPD’s Singapore lab will interface directly with ConneXion, the company’s proprietary global computer system, to ensure consistent management and real-time reporting.
The company has also completed the acquisition of InnoPharm, an independent research organisation based in Smolensk, Russia, which will strengthen its ability to offer Phase II-IV clinical trials support, data management and biostatistics services in Eastern Europe. In addition to Smolensk, PPD has added offices in Moscow, St Peterburg and Kiev.
InnoPharm has worked as a sub-contractor for PPD since 2004. Sergey Sudilovsky, currently director general of InnoPharm, will oversee operations in Russia and Ukraine for PPD.
