First up is LabCorp which has been cleared to buy Medtox Scientific by the US Federal Trade Commission, which granted early termination of the waiting period late last week.
Medtox – a provider of central laboratory and bio-analytical testing services for pharmaceutical clinical trials – will hold a special stockholders meeting on July 31 to consider and vote on a proposal to approve the merger.
If approved, the deal would be the second acquisition LabCorp has made in the central labs space in a little over 12 months following its takeover of Clearstone Central Labs in June 2011.
Next in today’s round-up is Quintiles, which has opened a new global commercial solutions unit in Brazil to try and win pharma customers keen to access the country’s rapidly growing pharmaceutical market.
In other news Quintiles announced it has partnered with Allscripts to "develop software solutions to improve the drug development process and demonstrate the value of biopharma products."
The idea is to leverage Allscripts' expertise in healthcare IT to develop systems that reduce some of the bottlenecks associated with clinical research, with a particular focus on late-phase research, recruiting and monitoring of clinical trials, and post-market surveillance.
Quintiles has also launched Allume –a ‘go-to-market service’ designed to help biopharmaceutical companies roll out new products and shorten timelines to peak sales. The service combines Quintiles' knowledge of global markets with its consulting services skills.
UK-based Synexus has also been expanding, adding a new in-patient facility in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Nyeleti facility – Synexus’ fourth in the country – will focus on Phase II and III studies that involve 24 hour serial spirometry, mixed meal tolerance testing, PK visits requiring an overnight stay or when infusion is required.
This unit includes an in-patient ward, a secure, temperature controlled dispensing unit designed to manage supplies according to ICH GCP and national guidelines. It also houses emergency and other resuscitative equipment, a transit laboratory and food preparation area and has ambulance support.
Next we move on to CRI Lifetree, which has opened a 60-bed early stage research facility in Marlton, New Jersey increasing its total bed count to 250 and adding – according to the firm - capacity to conduct complex clinical trials.
CRI Plans to conduct trials in neurology, pediatrics and normal healthy patients at the site, which also houses six beds dedicated to first-in-human studies.
Finally for this week we look at Gentris Corp. The pharmacogenomic testing and biorepository fim has expanded its genomic biomarker services by adding multiple technology platforms to its lab in RTP, North Carolina.