The North Carolina, US-based company said the offices, in Tel Aviv and Kiev, demonstrate its commitment to meet an “increased demand for services in the Middle East and Europe.”
Susan Stansfield, executive VP of product registration for Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa, told Outsourcing-Pharma the expansion reflects the “rapid and significant [market] growth in these countries over the past three years,” as well as the desire to provide customers with a tangible point of contact.
“Continued delivery of high quality services to our customers and employees is best provided through having our staff benefit from physical offices versus home-working,” she said.
“These offices offer a physical location for our teams to work from and provide face-to-face contact and interaction, plus logistics support.”
PRA now has 17 full-time employees in Israel after initially establishing its presence in the region in 2007. The Ukraine office, located in the business district of Podil, employs another 15 staff, including 10 clinical research associates.
High quality data
With a population of 50m, Ukraine has emerged as an attractive location for global studies. Stansfield believes that both Israel and Ukraine provide PRA with “all of the key ingredients” with which to conduct meaningful research.
“For global clinical trials to be completed within reasonable timelines to preserve patent life, access to high quality data from suitable patient populations is critical,” she said.
“Each of these countries provide regulatory framework, healthcare system, enthusiastic and well educated and trained investigator staff, and enthusiastic and well trained monitoring and support staff.
“In addition, both provide a safe environment for both local and visiting personnel,” she added.
Global Presence
The new facilities serve to further strengthen PRA global presence, which currently extends to more than 80 countries
Commenting on the openings, Ludger Langer, PRA's vice president of clinical operations in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa, said: “We are please to be able to provide an increased level of staffing through new offices in these two countries. These facilities bolster our offerings by providing centralised support for local teams to serve our clients in these regions.”