CRO

CRO Solutions spins niche services into new biz

Indiana's CRO Solutions is rolling all of its niche offerings into a single subsidiary, a move the company said will help it better compete in a changing market for research services.

CRO Solutions has launched VxP Pharma, a wholly owned subsidiary that combines all of the company's specialty labs into a one-stop for discovery through Phase IIb.

Under VxP Pharma, clients can tap a wide range of niche services through a single point of contact, CEO Raymond Peck said, giving them access to state-of-the-art labs that have been fully audited.

"Pharmaceutical and biotech research scientists throughout the industry tell us that they prefer to work with smaller, focused CROs, rather than with the huge, multinational, 'one-size-fits-all' CROs," Peck said in a statement. "Because VxP consists of smaller, independently owned and operated facilities who focus on only one area of drug development, our drug development clients get all the advantages of working directly with a specialist 'niche' CRO, including being able to work with some of the best subject matter experts in the industry."

CRO Solutions' move comes as the demand for early-phase work is dwindling around the industry, and many Phase I CROs are feeling the pinch of lower rates of first-in-man studies. Some large outfits are cutting back their early phase units, and some small preclinical CROs have shut their doors entirely, but CRO Solutions figures uniting its niche services on one platform will help it endure a tough market.

- read the announcement

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