CRO

Quintiles eyes first global trial for Indonesia

While Quintiles has been active in Indonesia since 2006, it has never been able to involve the country in a global clinical trial. That's all changing thanks to a partnership with Indonesia's Prodia Clinical Laboratory.

Indonesia, home to 240 million people, presents an alluring platform for clinical trials, but local laws require samples or data to first be tested in-country before getting exported, making it difficult to include the nation in global trials. Quintiles found a way to make it work, though, as Prodia has signed on test trial samples for the company, allowing it loop Indonesia in to its global operations.

"This is testament to Quintiles' commitment to obtain evidence of the potential benefits of new medicines in patient populations for whom they are intended," Quintiles Vice President Alan Ong said in a statement.

First up: Quintiles will include Indonesian patients in a diabetes study that will enroll about 14,000 people worldwide. From there, the CRO will use its alliance to conduct trials in Indonesia as necessary. The country's huge, diverse population makes it an ideal site for clinical trials of potential medicines for infectuous and non-communicable diseases, Quintiles says.

- read Quintiles' statement