Celerion announces expansion of clinical operations to South Korea

Through partnership with Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), the new Asian office is located within the SNUH Clinical Trials Center. This enables Celerion and its clients access to the 80-bed clinical research unit, particularly geared toward clinical pharmacology, oncology, and pediatrics, as well as the highly trained staff at this center.

The new Asian office will be overseen by Eurasian Site Operations executive director John Horkulak. Horkulak brings over 20 years of experience in managing clinical pharmacology studies in patient populations to this role.

The focus of the SNUH Clinical Trials Center is translational medicine and aligns with Celerion’s strategic vision to provide effective global services that support growing interest in complex early clinical studies, often involving patients. In addition, Celerion has built relationships and audited three other clinical trial centers in South Korea to support the need for multi-site early clinical studies in patients often requiring confinement.

Through Celerion, clients will have access to patient populations suitable for participation in early clinical research in oncology, HCV, cardiovascular (atherosclerosis and hypertension), diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, pain, psychiatric conditions, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, asthma and COPD.

In addition, Celerion’s partners will provide expertise in pharmacogenetics and ethnic bridging studies in Asian populations.

Celerion president and CEO Dr Susan Thornton noted the company is very pleased to have a presence in South Korea through our partnership with Seoul National University Hospital.

"They are a highly respected institution and among the global leaders in the conduct of quality medical research. Collectively, we are in a solid position to successfully conduct and analyze complex clinical pharmacology studies involving patients with access to specialized equipment and facilities," Dr Thornton added.

Celerion’s expansion of business operations to South Korea builds on our long-standing expertise in clinical pharmacology and reflects the latest step in our strategic commitment to Applied Translation Medicine.