Novotech to open operations in the USA

Australia-based contract research organization Novotech plans to initiate operations in the USA, full details of which were unveiled at the BIO 2004 conference held in San Francisco, USA.

The move follows a spate of successful bids for US clinical trials contracts. Alek Safarian, Novotech's chief executive, explained: "the race to complete clinical trials and drug development plans means that US biotech companies are increasingly taking an international perspective when deciding how, where [and] when they can complete their drug development programs as quickly as possible."

Mr Safarian cited results from a study conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, which found that shaving one year from Phase III studies could save around $71.4 million in the total cost of a new drug. "Australian regulatory procedures often enable a trial to begin in as little as two to three months from the initiation of the approval process," he added.