Synexus on track to double its clinical trial capacity in South Africa, opens two new research centres in Pretoria

Manchester-based Synexus, the world’s largest multi-national company dedicated to the recruitment and running of clinical trials, celebrated the first phase of its South African expansion programme in Pretoria today.

The formal opening of Synexus’ two new Dedicated Research Centres in Pretoria, took place with Dr Abul Rahman, Chief of Operations for the local primary care authority and Dr Ian Smith, founder of Synexus, as guests of honour. They were joined by Michael Fort, Synexus Chief Executive together with industry and community representatives.

In October 2008 Synexus announced its intention to double its clinical trial capacity in South Africa and Michael Fort acknowledged that this event signalled their on-going commitment to that goal: “We are on track to meet our aim of doubling clinical trials capacity here, and expect to do so before the end of 2009. The facilities at our new centres are excellent, as are the medical staff working for us here. We have a great team on board to lead our developments in South Africa, with Dr Sanet Aspinall and Dr Luthando Adams bringing tremendous local and professional experience to add to our strengths. We hope to be celebrating the opening of our next centre in Soshanguve within the coming months.”

The new centres are in addition to Synexus’ existing South African research centre which has a 36 bed phase I and IIa clinical trials unit with a well established record for delivering high quality trials on time. All the centres will benefit from the use of new, state of the art equipment including a DXA scanner and digital x-ray facilities.

Dr Ian Smith is confident of the long term prospects for Synexus operations in South Africa: “Since the start of our operations here we have seen impressive year-on-year growth. The combination of the large patient population and the highly skilled medical community make it a sought after destination for pharmaceutical and biotech companies who are finding patient recruitment increasingly difficult. We currently have four major trials underway here, all part of wider international studies, as well as more than thirty Phase I to Phase III trials.”

http://www.synexus.com