“We have seen significant growth, especially in the US and Central & Eastern European regions, and we would say Chiltern’s complete package of services and synergies across services has been a primary driver,” Dr. Jim Esinhart, CEO of Chiltern, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
Among the company’s three functional service lines -- global clinical development, global scientific services and global resourcing solutions – Esinhart said “it is all about services linking together, synergistically and ensuring every solution is customized to meet each customer’s needs.”
The company’s ability to foster relationships with clients and identify therapeutic centers worldwide also helped to increase its backlog to £203m ($318m), up from £187m at the end of March 2012.
“We also have close ties for identifying therapeutic centers of excellence and fostering relationships with key opinion leaders so we represent the best thinking across the globe in terms of the standards of care, what is available and the best approach for attracting a particular patient population to participate,” Esinhart said.
The company reported new business awards of £150m, representing a gross-book-to-bill of 1.5 and a net-book-to-bill of 1.2.
In terms of the therapeutic areas that Chiltern is working in, Esinhart told us the company’s “highest concentrations are in oncology, infectious diseases, cardio-respiratory and ophthalmology areas.”
New Investments
In addition to its current therapeutic areas, Chiltern is looking to “enrich our investments into additional therapeutic areas, for example dermatology and medical devices,” Esinhart added.
Other investments in processes and technologies will support Chiltern’s innovations, he added. “Examples include our rich experience with global Functional Services Provisions (FSPs), Chiltern Activate, our global study start-up function, and Chiltern’s Collaborative Technologies suite.”
Esinhart added that he expects to “see significant growth in the coming year” in implementing risk-based monitoring strategies.
Global Expansion
The ability of a CRO to conduct studies worldwide also seems crucial to winning clients and Chiltern is moving in the direction of the other global CROs, such as Quintiles and Covance.
With operations in India, Australia, Singapore, and Taiwan, Esinhart said the company recognizes “there is further strengthening throughout Asia we need to focus on and we will continue to grow in this region to meet our clients’ needs.”
For Latin America, “Chiltern has strong, established operations in Brazil and Argentina where we offer project management, clinical monitoring, regulatory and pharmacovigilance services. We see this as an area of accelerating growth. This has been a successful area for us and we see that continuing in the future.”