That decision comes just a few days after a Kalorama report cited patient recruitment problems in the US and Europe as a major factor driving outsourcing of clinical trials to emerging economies such as Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
In a statement, the Mayo Clinic said the clinical trials unit was no longer accepting new contracts and that 30 employees at the unit would lose their jobs straight away. It added that a further 27 workers would be let go in 2009, but said it was hopeful that many of those would find employment elsewhere within the Mayo Clinic group.
“This decision will allow Mayo to focus its efforts on its successful and growing clinical reference laboratory business, Mayo Medical Laboratories, which provides ... laboratory testing services to clients throughout the world,” it said.
The May Clinic carried out a review of the unit’s fortunes and concluded that it would make “substantial financial losses into the foreseeable future.”
The unit insisted that it would bring all trials already under contract to their conclusion. Most of them are due to complete by the end of 2010.
Mayo Clinical Trial Services, based in Rochester, Minnesota, was first set up in 1991 and currently employs around 100 employees running trials for drugmakers and medical device manufacturers.
The clinical unit's parent division, Mayo Collaborative Services, will continue to operate via Mayo Medical Laboratories and Mayo Validation Support Services.
The research unit has carried out more than 1,000 clinical trial studies in all major therapeutic areas have been conducted worldwide using its services.
The unit and its sister organisations offered 3,000 safety and other tests to drug development companies, as well as developing and validating new assays for clinical trials.