Rem Medical’s primary business is in the running of sleep disorder clinics. Now, with the acquisition of a clinical site in Tucson, Arizona, operated by PsyPharma, it will be able to provide Phase II-IV trial services across a wide range of sleep and related psychiatric disorders.
PsyPharma specialises in Phase II-IV trials of sleep, psychiatry and neurology disorders, with operations in both the US and China.
Insomnia treatments are the main product category among sleep disorders and represent a multibillion dollar market in their own right, albeit one that is mature and heading for imminent genericisation.
But sleep disorders span a broad range of indications, including restless legs syndrome and obstructive sleep apnoea, which are the focus of considerable research by the drug development sector.
OSA is one of the fastest growing sector in the sleep disorder treatment market , with up to 18 million patients in the US 85 per cent of whom are estimated to be undiagnosed.
Rem Medical said in a statement that through the acquisition it has “retained an exceptional investigative, clinical and administrative team with a track record of quality trial activity.”
The Arizona unit is led by Derek Loewy, the principal investigator in over thirty clinical trials since completing his sleep medicine fellowship training at Stanford University in 2001.
Prior to PsyPharma, Dr Loewy was the director of the insomnia program at the Sleep Clinic of San Francisco.