Under the deal, Prodia will provide sample testing services for trials carried out locally.
The move will for the first time allow Quintiles to include patients in the country in a global clinical trial; previously tricky because of legislation that all local samples must be tested in Indonesia before being exported.
Jenny Zhang, the firm’s VP of central laboratories in Asia told Outsourcing-Pharma.com: “This will allow Quintiles’ customers to conduct clinical research in Indonesia, give Indonesians the opportunity to participate in clinical research, and allow Indonesia to join other developing nations in participating in global clinical trials.”
Quintiles' first worldwide trial to recruit in the region will be for diabetes, and is expected to include around 14,000 patients. The firm was unable to disclose how many of those patients would be in Indonesia.
Of the types of client Quintiles plans to work with through the new alliance, Zhang simply said the company is open to all so long as the pipeline therapy fits the bill.
She explained: “The types of investigational therapies in a customer’s pipeline is the main factor in determining whether Indonesia is attractive for trials targeting certain diseases or patient populations.
“Indonesia has a high rate of infectious and tropical diseases, and rising rates of diseases associated with Western populations, for example diabetes, and heart disease.”
Indonesia bound
The alliance is not the biopharma providers’ first in Indonesia recently. It follows a 2011 agreement with the Jakarta-based Lab’s sister firm Prodia Clinical Laboratory, which afforded Quintiles exclusive access to the central facility for two years.
Zhang told us the country ranks highly in the firm’s growth plans, because of its 240m strong population, ethnic diversity and growing incidence of infectious and non-communicable diseases.
“We have had an office in Indonesia since 2006 and believe in its potential to become a prime location for clinical trials,” she said.
Prodia Group also hopes the deal will be the start of a boom for the industry. President and director Endang Hoyaranda said in a statement: “As the local market leader and only CAP-accredited (College of American Pathologists) central laboratory in Indonesia, Prodia is playing a significant role in helping establish Indonesia as a clinical trial center of excellence."