Contract research organization the Almac Group will spend $100 million on a new headquarters in Lower Salford Township, Pennsylvania. The consolidation of two existing facilities will produce 262 new jobs and create a campus-like environment similar to one the company already has at its headquarters in Northern Ireland.

“It’s a major expansion for us,” says Robert Dunlop, president of Almac Clinical Services. “It will provide a footprint for other parts of the Almac company to set up operations in North America. We want to continue to support our North American client bases, not just in North America, but globally.” Almac offices in San Francisco and North Carolina will remain there, he said.

New Campus in 2010

Dunlop says the company has been impressed with the quality of the Pennsylvania work force. Says Dunlop: “We find Pennsylvania to be a very welcoming home. We find the capability and competence and commitment of our employees to be exemplary.” Construction of the facility starts next year, and it will be up and running by 2010.

Some 500 people already working at two Almac locations will be moved to the new facility. The site is big enough for additional structures. “There is another 20 acres of land for further development,” Dunlop notes.

1,000 Trials

The company is certainly aware of trials moving to India and China, Dunlop said. But the timing of a major push into either of those nations will happen at the right time, for the right reasons. Said Dunlop: “It’s not just about costs. It’s about creating value propositions for the clients we work with.”

The company has several divisions. Its services arm focuses on drug supply solutions.  The company’s Clinical Technologies Group is also deeply, offering both electronic data capture and interactive voice response systems been used on more than 1,000 trials. During the past 11 years, Almac systems have been used by more than 70,000 sites to randomize over a million patients in more than 80 countries.

“Technologies are a very important aspect of our business,” Dunlop says. “They’re a key enabler of the services we want to deliver. We have an unusual aspect in that we do blend technology with service.”

In that regard, we asked him about clients wanting ‘real time’ information about their trials. “Real time is a vague definition,” Dunlop said. “What people are looking for is accurate and timely information.”