Bridge Laboratories announced that the FDA accepted data submitted from its Beijing facility on behalf of a U.S. biotech client. The Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) nonhuman primate toxicology data was submitted last month as part of an IND package. Bridge’s Beijing facility was built to conduct GLP studies in support of worldwide regulatory submissions. “The FDA’s acceptance of this data validates the wisdom of conducting preclinical research in China for clients looking to complete studies economically,” said Tom Oakley, president and CEO, Bridge Laboratories. “We are pleased about what this says about the quality of our work in China—that it clearly meets western standards—and what it means to companies seeking cost-effective GLP IND-enabling work.”

Lab Research has received more than $3 million in government subsidies and loans to expand its Canadian facilities. “The expansion of our Canadian facilities represents the corporation’s largest investment to date,” said Luc Mainville, president and CEO. The corporation first obtained a non-refundable contribution of $2 million as part of a program for attracting and retaining research investments administered by the Québec government’s ministry of economic development. Half of this amount will be received in 2008. The firm was also awarded a $529,000 subsidy from another Québec department that lead to the creation of 242 additional jobs. If our math is correct, each of those jobs has a salary of $2,200 annually, which just goes to show that not all cost savings are to be found south of the U.S.

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Cross Country Healthcare will present on Wednesday, September 17, 2008, at 12:15 p.m. EST at the CL King Best Ideas Conference at the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel in New York City. Cross Country’s presentation will be webcast and accessible to the public online via this webcast link to the company’s corporate web site. Here’s the release.

Research and Markets released a report, “Clinical Research Outsourcing Where Are We?” The report gives an in-depth analysis of the current status and prospects of the global CRO market and valuates the growth of the industry in the U.S., Europe and Asian countries such as India and China. The report assesses the implications of adopting newer technologies in the pharma value chain, and provides a brief description about the services offered by major global CROs.

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Ricerca Biosciences named Gary Jacobson executive VP and CFO. In addition to his financial responsibilities, he will be accountable for Ricerca’s legal, human resources, facilities and IT functions. “I’m delighted to welcome Gary to Ricerca,” said Ricerca chairman and CEO, Ian Lennox. Here’s the release.

Phase Forward announced a $40 million purchase of Clarix, a provider of a phone- and web-driven interactive voice response system (IVRS). Its system can also manage drug supplies. Clarix says its solution has been used in three of the top five and 11 of the top 25 largest global pharmaceutical companies. “Clarix has shared Phase Forward’s vision for enabling more efficient clinical trials,” said Jagath Wanninayake, Clarix’s founder and CEO. “The combination of our technology with Phase Forward’s scale, market leadership and global installed base realizes this vision through a more unified eclinical solution.” The deal comes in the wake of Parexel’s $192 million acquisition of ClinPhone and may herald an era in which top clinical trial technology firms attempt to offer systems that do not have to be painstakingly linked together for each trial. Here’s the release. 
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