Parexel Opens New Early Phase Unit In South Africa

In addition to providing the capability to conduct a variety of studies in healthy volunteers, the core focus of the Port Elizabeth unit is on early phase studies in patients, from First in Man to Proof of Concept studies.

Parexel’s other early phase units in South Africa, based in Bloemfontein and George, have a track record of conducting challenging early phase patient studies by combining Phase I expertise with successful patient recruitment capabilities. Parexel’s early phase units are located across three continents, including in Baltimore and Los Angeles in the US; London, UK; and Berlin, Germany.

Parexel’s early phase units provide rapid study-start up and direct access to diverse patient populations as well as healthy volunteers. The early phase unit in Port Elizabeth serves as one of the units in the Parexel SuperSites network. The Parexel SuperSites network provides high enrollment potential for clinical studies, drawing on dedicated patient recruitment specialists and relationships with local health care professionals. Parexel’s call center and database capabilities allow for a high number of patients to be recruited in a rapid timeframe.

As part of the official inauguration of its early phase unit in Port Elizabeth, Parexel will bring together experts from around the world for an invitation-only symposium on February 24, 2010 entitled ‘Early Drug Development: The Challenge to Get Better Data Sooner.’

The symposium will address the latest trends and best practices to assist biopharmaceutical companies in overcoming key early phase development challenges. Members of Parexel’s dedicated team of early phase experts will be in attendance to discuss the design and implementation of First in Man through Proof of Concept studies. These experts will address how biopharmaceutical companies can avoid costly late stage clinical development failures by making better and earlier go/no-go decisions.

Michelle Middle, corporate vice president and worldwide head of early phase at Parexel International, said: “Increasing the number of patients per site and reducing the overall number of sites in a study serves to decrease variability improving study quality and reproducibility. The opening of our early phase unit in Port Elizabeth represents Parexel’s further commitment to offering rapid recruitment solutions to our clients. Port Elizabeth joins our other early phase units, which are integrated and harmonized to handle complex global studies involving healthy volunteers and patient populations.”