Clinical Outsourcing
On the crest of the middle tier
Chiltern has strengthened its global footprint through acquisitions, collaboration
and geographical expansion. And in parallel with the rest of the outsourcing sector,
the company is also benef_i ting from pharma’s current drive for cost-containment,
CEO Glenn Kerkhof tells Caroline Richards
Q.
trials ongoing in these countries out of 62,000
In the past year, Chiltern has opened
GLENN KERKHOF being performed globally. Nevertheless, having
new offices in Portugal, Russia and Argentina.
recognised the huge potential of both regions,
What are the benefits of having a presence
our strategy is to expand operations in each
in these countries? country in line with market growth.
Chiltern now has 23 off_i ces in 14 countries,
Q. What motivated Chiltern to purchase
with employees in over 23 countries. We
are continually reviewing our portfolio of
the Scottish Phase I clinical trials unit Drug
geographical operations and thinking about
Development Solutions (DSS)?
how we can better serve our sponsors with
them. By extending our reach in a controlled
At a strategic level we wanted to expand and
and sustainable way we can access new
strengthen our Phase I offering. With the DDS
investigators, study participants and potential
purchase we can now offer complementary
markets on behalf of sponsors, as well as
services from Dundee, Scotland and our
providing them with individual staff members
30-bed unit in Slough, just outside London.
should they choose that option.
The units now share the same leadership and
Russia is an important and emerging
operate in an entirely integrated way.
pharmaceutical market. And for us Argentina
In particular, we were attracted to the
represents a gateway to all of Latin America
42-bed Dundee unit because it is one of the
– now that we have established operations few Phase I units in the UK located at a large
in the region we expect to see a lot of teaching hospital. This was a strong draw
growth in coming years. The Portugal off_i ce for us in light of UK regulator the MHRA’s
was established after having operated in that requirements for GCP accreditation for
country successfully for some years with f_i eld- f_i rst-in-man trials, which indicated that more
based staff. pharma and biotech trials will need to be
We were also excited to announce in June hospital-based. We also felt the return to a
2008 our collaboration with a large Asian more predictable and eff_i cient regulatory
CRO, EPS International, giving us experienced environment once again made the UK an
and effective access to several markets in Asia. attractive place to conduct Phase I studies. And
Our Indian operations are growing strongly recent falls in the value of the pound against
and we may well see further off_i ces established the US dollar certainly reinforce that view.
on the Indian subcontinent too. The Dundee unit comes with an expert,
dedicated and stable workforce and a
Q. Do you think expanding in emerging
reputation for doing quality work that has
been built since it was established in 1982. It
economies, such as China and India, is
has niche expertise in phototoxicity studies in
important to a CRO in today’s competitive
humans, which few units can perform, so that
global market?
also attracted us to the business. We are very
pleased to have been able to build our Early
Yes. Chiltern’s Indian operations, based in
Phase brand in this way.
Mumbai, have quickly become an important
axis for the company. Not only is there a
large supply of investigators and study
Q. Do you intend to make any further
participants, but there is also tremendous
acquisitions?
expertise available.
We recognise the clear importance of the We do not see ourselves as a highly acquisitive
Chinese market, but have not established company. We are attracted to pursuing organic
direct operations there yet. Instead we have growth as much as possible, but will consider
opted, as I’ve just mentioned, to access the acquisition where this strategy cannot allow us
long experience and solid track record of EPS the access our sponsors require to geography,
International in that country. scale, expertise or technology. Where we do
It’s worth noting that India and China have make an acquisition we place great emphasis
yet to make a major mark on the global clinical on successful integration and building a single
research landscape; there are fewer than 1,000 ‘Chiltern’ identity.
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