Harlan’s clinical research services will use Fluofarma’s expertise in high content analysis, biomarkers quantification and high content histology, including applications to mechanistic toxicology and prediction of toxicity.
“One of our goals is to help our customers reduce the risk of drug attrition during the development process,” said Ciriaco Maraschiello, director of strategic initiatives and director of drug discovery and translational medicine at Harlan CRS. “This alliance with Fluofarma enables us to strengthen our services during the early stages of development so that we can be a key partner for our customers.”
Maraschiello also told us, "Market changes were not the impetus behind this relationship. This strategic partnership is in accordance with our drug discovery and translational medicine program and, for Harlan Laboratories, will fill in some gaps we have in terms of applying biomarkers to specific diseases, in vitro prediction of organ toxicity and target validation for efficacy including high throughput screening (HTS).
Through early investigation into the opportunities and challenges of founding this relationship, we found that our teams offer complementary services and the structure of our organizations and how we execute services dovetail rather naturally. After all considerations, it was an smart and straightforward decision to work together — it’s an opportunity for fast and sensible growth."
Jean-Baptiste Pin, CEO of Fluofarma, added: “It will be a tremendous growth accelerator for Fluofarma by improving our international visibility. For us, it’s the confirmation that our high content analysis technologies and translational research skills can add value to the global drug development process.”
The deal comes two months after Harlan was acquired by CRO Huntingdon Life Sciences to form the world’s third largest preclinical CRO on the market.