Quintiles signs agreement for central lab services in China

Quintiles Transnational Corp., of North Carolina, has reached an agreement with the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) in Beijing to expand Quintiles' central laboratory services in China. The agreement permits Quintiles to use laboratory-testing services within PUMCH's extensive clinical laboratory.

PUMCH is one of China's premier academic institutions and a leader in clinical research. Quintiles Laboratories will place staff within PUMCH to provide support services associated with the collection and management of clinical trial specimens for Quintiles' customers. China closely regulates the export of whole blood, including clinical trial samples. With access to the PUMCH laboratories, Quintiles can help customers save valuable time during the clinical trial process.

'China is an excellent country for clinical research, offering rapid patient recruitment, large patient populations and unique gene pools,' said Neil Ferguson, managing director, Quintiles, Greater China. 'With this agreement, we intend to offer our customers access to a large number of new investigators and patients while effectively managing time requirements and maintaining our consistent high global standards.'

Dr Ni Anping, director of clinical laboratories for PUMCH, said: 'PUMCH already has experience working on global trials, and we hope that through our alliance with Quintiles we will have many more opportunities to participate in international clinical research.'