Popsi Cube joins Medicen Paris Region in a bid to bag more clients

12-Jul-2011 - Last updated on 13-Jul-2011 at 11:23 GMT

CRO Popsi Cube has become an active member of Medicen Paris Region, a network of firms, research centres, universities, hospitals and economic development parks hosting biotechnology companies in the French capital.

The relatively new biotech and medtech contract research organisation (CRO) hopes its membership will provide a fast track to a solid client base.

Popsi Cube founder and chairman Fabrice Beauchêne told Outsourcing-Pharma: “Becoming member of Medicen will help us to successfully interface with multinationals, academic laboratories and hospitals.

“We think this membership will help us to promote our innovative technology and reinforce our international competitiveness.

Beauchêne added that joining the group provides Popsi Cube with possibilities in the fields of patient recruitment and the use of electronic patient data.

Last year Medicen was involved in a project with Gemalto, Santeos/Atos origin, and other SMEs , aimed at making medical records in the Paris region to available to all practitioners.

Since then Medicen has established contact between Popsi Cube and Parisian researchers Inavireax, who are now working with an AIDs vaccine in phase 2a clinical trials. Beauchêne said: “We are currently in discussions over the management of the trial.”

Vive les France

Already a member of similar clusters in the US such as AP Bio, Bio Center Philadelphia USA, and E-HEALTH cluster of technology center at the University of Sfax in Tunisia, as well as the French Association of CRO (AFCROs), Popsi Cube’s latest membership begs the question, ‘Why establish contacts in such a specified networking area?’

Beauchêne told us: “We realise that France is an opportunity for clinical research, there are around 50 independent private CROs working on this place, good health infrastructures, Numerous Hospital and clinics and good medical level of our investigators.

“He predicted that despite the increasing focus on conducting trials in Eastern Europe and Asia where studies are cheaper to conduct, Western Europe’s trial sector will continue to thrive as a result of the regions’ unique patient population.

“Paris is an important hub for CROs at the moment, and all Paris hospitals are linked with Medicen Paris.”

He added: “In any case our dynamic challenger position is beginning to gain recognition around the world.”