Author: Peter Mansell

US-based contract research organisation (CRO) Quintiles Transnational has formed a partnership with Apollo Hospitals Group, the largest private hospital company in India, to set up a Phase I clinical trial unit in Hyderabad.

In a breakthrough hailed as a milestone for clinical research and the harbinger of a more accommodating US environment for stem cell research under the Obama administration, Geron Corporation has secured clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for what the company says will be the world’s first study of a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapy in humans.

Based on the available evidence, there appear to be “no valid scientific reasons” to “support a discontinuation of the use of primates in basic and applied research, or in the development and testing of new drugs”, concludes the European Union’s Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER).

REM Medical gets deeper into sleep with PsyPharma Tuscon acquisition

A just-completed merger between Phidea and Marvin Research, two contract research organisations (CROs) based in Milan, Italy, will position the companies for growth and expansion into global markets, Phidea says.