Headlands Research, which manages trial sites in North America, has acquired a research site in Massachusetts that has specialized in neurodegenerative diseases for more than a quarter century.
The new site, located in Plymouth, has been renamed Headlands Research Eastern Massachusetts, and will be operated by the site's founder and principal investigator Donald Marks, M.D., who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases, the company said in an April 18 press release.
Marks’ first clinical trial in 1993 was focused on evaluating tacrine, the first FDA-approved drug to manage Alzheimer’s disease. To date, the site has conducted 41 clinical trials, with 36 focusing on Alzheimer’s specifically, including 13 in the past three years alone.
“Through our research, we can help fill the gap in the availability of disease-modifying treatments and effective long-term symptomatic therapies,” Marks said in the release. “Joining Headlands Research increases the number of clinical trials and innovative, investigational treatments available for our patient population.”
Headlands operates 13 sites in the U.S. and Canada and has completed more than 5,000 clinical trials. The company recently announced the debut of Headlands Research Detroit, adding that it plans to continue expanding its trial site network through the rest of the year. The Detroit site is part of an overall push at Headlands and throughout the industry to diversify patient populations participating in clinical trials.
Last May, the San Francisco trial site manager inked a deal with Pfizer to break ground on several new research sites in diversely populated areas.