QPS acquires Xendo Drug Development

Jul 26 2010

QPS Holdings, LLC, a leading full-service GLP/GCP-compliant contract research organization providing testing services to support preclinical and clinical research and development, announced the completion of its acquisition of Xendo Drug Development BV (XDD), headquartered in Groningen, The Netherlands.  XDD, a European contract research organization (CRO), will be known as QPS Netherlands BV and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of QPS Holdings, LLC.

With the completion of this acquisition, QPS further expands its global range of linearly integrated resources and services:

• Drug discovery and development from preclinical to clinical studies for IND and NDA regulatory submissions.
• 300 clinical pharmacology beds on three continents - 24 in the Netherlands, 24 in Taiwan and 240 in the USA - one of the world's largest phase 1 site offerings.
• Start-up time for phase 1 clinical trials is four to six weeks, compared to several months in other European countries. Moreover, phase 2 can follow phase 1 without interruption.  Many international pharmaceutical and biotech companies have conducted first entry into man (FIM) studies in the Netherlands. This is due to Netherlands' favorable regulatory environment, streamlined protocol approval process and lower cost of managing trials.
• One of the world's largest capacities in bioanalysis for small molecules and biologics, with global bioanalysis facilities in the USA, Europe and Asia.
• Complete ADME package for regulatory submissions from preclinical studies to radiolabeled human mass balance (including microdosing) studies.
• CNS drug research and development, such as Alzheimer therapy, from patient stratification, to the clinic, to in vivo imaging, to PK/PD correlation and efficacy evaluation, with clinical genotyping and specialized biomarker assay capability to support the pursuit of targeted therapies and personalized medicines..  

XDD has state-of-the-art large and small molecule bioanalytical laboratories and a dedicated 24-bed clinical pharmacology unit (CPU) located at University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG).  Established in 2004, this CPU has performed over 100 clinical pharmacology studies - many of them first entry into man (FIM) studies - across all major therapeutic areas.  This location provides comprehensive safety monitoring with 24/7 access to hospital-based crash teams and clinical specialists.  XDD also offers an extensive database of healthy volunteers as well as  special and patient populations.

"Pooling our strengths will enable XDD and QPS to serve our clients even better.  Our leading capability in conducting high quality bioanalysis and phase 1 studies, combined with our well established expertise in ADME, genotyping and drug development process will make QPS an ideal drug development partner for our pharmaceutical and biotech clients worldwide," said Ben Chien, Chairman, and CEO of QPS holdings.

"Joining the QPS organization enables XDD to realize its ambitions for global growth.  In terms of activities, size and location, QPS and XDD are a perfect fit. Our combined operations in Asia, Europe and the US position us ideally to expand our portfolios in the increasingly consolidated pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector, our primary market," said Koos Koops, XDD's former chief executive officer. Koops will head the XDD -QPS Netherlands division of QPS.

"As both QPS and XDD facilities share the same high standards and customer service philosophy, this merger will further strengthen our ability to provide our clients with quality, services, and competitive pricing worldwide," stated Ben Chien.