The Alliance, which launched last week, unites six contract research organisations (CROs) across India, Japan, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Jayanti Gupta, VP of Clinical Development at alliance member Semler Research Centre, told Outsourcing-pharma.com that while multinational CROs may be used to operating under a variety of clinical research regulations worldwide, their sheer scale can result in slow decision making.
“Global CROs have learned local regulations and have already been operating in countries worldwide. So far, perhaps they have been the only option for pharma and biotech companies who need multinational trials but need the ease of dealing with a one-stop solution.
“However, in this model, with a HQ in US and or Europe, and multiple affiliates in various countries there can be limitations. Such as how well can the local affiliate function and whether they are empowered to make decisions to move quickly.
Dr Gupta explained that the ACA is designed to offer the regional reach and single point of contact provided by global CROs but with the “advantage of being headed by the leaders of each company and therefore [the ability to] make quicker and perhaps better decisions.”
Mid-sized pharma
ACA will target mid-sized pharma and biotech manufacturers according to Gupta, who said the plan is to offer the cost-effective and personalized services that such customers – which may have limited experience of the clinical research process – are attracted to.
However, the ACA will also seek to work with large CROs Gupta continued, suggesting that the group could facilitate further regional access for such organisations.
“We see as an option for even large global CROs to partner up with us to provide services in the region, especially if they do not have a strong footprint here. This will be more cost effective and efficient model for the global CROs as well.”
Growth Hub
Gupta also predicted that demand for clinical research services in Asia will continue to increase and that this benefits service providers with operations in the region.
“Asia is the next hub for economic growth. It is predicted to also be the growth region for the pharma and biotech market for this reason as well as from a diverse population standpoint.
“It stands to reason that being an Asia based entity helps to take advantage of the growth in the region. As companies originating from the region, we believe we understand this region and its complexities better.”