CRO

Quintiles partners with Russians on new drug development ventures

A venture group backed by the Russian government and tasked with building a drug development industry in the country is partnering with Quintiles to go to work on the clinical trial end of the equation.

Russia is "under-represented in terms of clinical development activity and over-represented in terms of unmet medical needs," said Ben Cons, the global VP of Quintiles corporate development. "Quintiles' goal is to address both of those issues in partnership with RVC Biofund, which has experience in starting businesses in Russia and capital to invest in the biopharma sector."

The Russian Venture Company Biofund and Quintiles, a global CRO with 15 years of clinical trial experience in Russia, say that their partnership anticipates the near-term launch of some joint ventures.

"This partnership will help create high-technology services companies within the Russian Federation to advance biopharma, using RVC Biofund venture capital investments," said Egor Beketov, CEO of RVC Biofund. "With Quintiles, RVC Biofund gets a partner with the global resources and expertise to further expand development capabilities in Russia."

This new move underscores the growing involvement of Russian capital with overseas groups. The Russian venture arm recently helped establish a new biotech fund in Boston. And Rusnano, an agency charged with investing in nanotech companies in exchange for their commitment to do more research in Russia, has backed several nanobiotech companies in the U.S.

- here's the press release

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