Quintiles, a US-based biopharmaceutical services company, inaugurated its new research facility in London on 8 March 2010. Known as the Quintiles drug research unit, the facility located in Newcomen Street will expand the Phase I capacity of Quintiles. It is expected to boost the company’s ability in the field of translational medicine.
The facility has been set up in collaboration with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The launch marks an expansion of the company’s current facilities in the city.
Quintiles drug research unit
Located on the 14th floor of Guy’s Hospital, the drug research facility is close to one of the UK’s five biomedical research centres (BRCs). The facility is equipped with 35 beds for patients and healthy volunteers. It has been designed to provide standardised data and reporting throughout the Quintiles Phase I sites.
Equipped with electronic data capture (EDC) and automated workflow systems, the facility will be connected to other Phase I beds around the world.
“The Quintiles drug research unit is expected to boost the company’s ability in the field of translational medicine.”
Phase I capacity
The facility will carry out proof-of-concept programmes, boosting Quintiles’ capacity to assist in the rapid development of drugs by biopharmaceutical companies.
With this facility, Quintiles’ total number of Phase I beds will be increased to 105 in London and 385 across the world. By late 2010, the launch of a new Phase I unit in Hyderabad, India, will increase the number of beds further. This unit, initially equipped with 50 beds, will have the capacity to accommodate up to 100 beds.
Trials and studies
The state-of-the-art facility will be used to conduct early stage trials in patients and healthy volunteers. While all therapeutic areas will be undertaken, the facility will specialise in the study of central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory diseases.
Trials on new therapeutics including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and flu will be conducted at the facility. The facility will offer several Phase I services including first-in-man studies, studies on drug interaction and proof-of-concept among patients.
The Quintiles unit will provide clinical pharmacology for multiple therapy areas to AstraZeneca as part of an alliance announced on 2 November 2009. The research unit will be responsible for the delivery of the majority of AstraZeneca’s clinical pharmacology.
Quintiles collaboration
The London facility has been established as part of a collaborative agreement between Quintiles and two of the UK’s leading institutions – Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London.
As part of the agreement, the facility will gain access to Guy’s Hospital’s vast and diverse patient population, and its clinical expertise in several therapeutic areas. The facility will also provide the necessary infrastructure to convert the new research findings of King’s College’s health partners into potential healthcare benefits.
“The Quintiles drug research unit is located on the 14th floor of Guy’s Hospital in London.”
The facility brings Quintiles nearer to the Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC), King’s Health Partners and its National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The collaborative agreement was negotiated by King’s Business, a wholly owned subsidiary of King’s College London.
Together with King’s College London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is currently developing clinical research facilities and a good manufacturing practice (GMP) facility adjacent to the Quantiles drug research unit.
Quintiles facilities in UK
Quintiles operates a global central laboratory in the UK and a College of American Pathologists (CAP)-accredited laboratory, located in the Alba Campus in Rosebank, West Lothian. It also operates a professional services centre in Livingston in Scotland. The centre offers a range of services including clinical trials management, data management, biostatistical analysis, pre-clinical testing and a laboratory for clinical trial services.
