The new entity - iQ Pharma Services Corporation – will provide Phase II to Phase IV clinical research services in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China and is expected to be fully operational later this year.
Masakuni Ukita, CEO of Japan-based intellim, said: “This alliance validates the strength of intellim's service portfolio and reputation, and the power of our business model to enable us to partner with other companies to promote our services.
“Because Japan is the second largest country for pharmaceutical companies in terms of new drug development and sales and is interested in expanding its business to Asia and the other regions, we decided to base iQ Pharma Services in Japan. We believe iQ Pharma Services will quickly become essential to the pharmaceutical industry.”
QPS CEO Ben Chien was similarly positive about the accord, predicting that “iQ Pharma Services will become the CRO of choice for Phase II through Phase IV contract clinical research in the Asia Pacific region.
He added that the “alliance with intellim is the perfect addition to further our own evolution as a global CRO. We are already seeing increased regional demand and we believe this alliance with intellim will allow us to intensify our presence in the Asia Pacific region."
Expansion
The JV is QPS’ second Asian expansion in just over two months behind the new office in Beijing, China that was established by its QPS Qualitix subsidiary in October.
It also follows just a month after QPS bolstered its presence in Europe through the expansion of its Phase I clinical trial services facility in the Netherlands and the acquisition of Austria-based contract research organisation JSW Life Sciences.