Author: Peter Mansell

Running clinical trials in Russia, Ukraine and Eastern Europe is not only cheaper than in the West but can generate better quality data, according to the head of a US-based contract research organisation (CRO) that operates in the region.

eResearchTechnology (ERT) has formed an alliance with specialist contract research organisation (CRO) Integrium to provide centralised core laboratory services for integrated cardiac safety and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to clinical trial sponsors and mangers worldwide.

Speculation that either the whole or part of Canadian life sciences company MDS Inc are up for sale has mounted after MDS announced it had established a committee of independent directors “to support the Company’s continuing process of reviewing alternatives to improve shareholder value”.

An appeals court judgment last Friday means Pfizer is facing the prospect of US lawsuits from Nigerian families over a controversial clinical trial in 1996 with the company’s antibiotic Trovan (trovafloxacin).

US-based contract research organisation (CRO) Covance brought a little solace to the beleaguered sector by beating analysts’ estimates for revenues and earnings in the fourth quarter, as well as topping its own revised guidance for earnings per share in the full year.