The offices initially will employ a group of English-speaking management, regulatory and therapeutic staff to offer the company’s clients another locale in the region. Prior to the opening of the new offices, INC partnered with local CROs to conduct numerous trials for over two decades there.
Garth Tierney, EVP of INC’s Asia/Pacific division told Outsourcing-Pharma.com, “the Tokyo office will serve as the main center for our operations, while Osaka will largely be a project management hub. The two offices are linked by the famous Bullet train and we will expand these offices out as much as demand requires it.”
INC now has 20 offices across the Asia/Pacific region, including a presence in China, India, Australia, Singapore, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and New Zealand.
Japan Key to CRO Development
A number of CROs are beginning to push further into the Asia/Pacific region, especially into Japan. For instance, InVentiv Health in April established a partnership with Bell Medical to push further into the Japanese market.
Covance also recently opened a new office in Singapore.
Tierney added, “With the second largest pharmaceutical market and third largest economy in the world, Japan is a region where clinical research is rapidly evolving. The Japanese government has recognized the market potential and demonstrated efforts to attract global research to the region. As a result, we’re seeing a paradigm shift within Japan towards becoming part of global trials.”