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Alquest launches clinical trials in India
By siliconindia
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Monday, 18 September 2006, 19:30 IST
MINNEAPOLIS: Alquest Inc., a contract research organization (CRO), specialized in medical devices has announced the expansion of its business to include clinical trials in India. The companys new offering is tailored to North American and European early-stage and mid-cap device firms seeking to generate FDA-quality data within highly compressed timelines.
"The pharma sector long ago seized upon the advantages of conducting clinical trials in India. In Alquest India, we've created the operational platform to deliver FDA-quality clinical data in a fraction of the time it takes in other regions of the world." says Alquest CEO Linda Alexander.
DeMello, who heads the Alquest India team, said, India offers several key advantages over other regions of the world, such as highly skilled English-speaking physicians trained to Western practice standards; the newest and most sophisticated medical technologies; high-volume practices; large and ethnically-diverse patient populations; and compliant patients.
"Many of my individual physician contacts in India have procedural volumes that exceed those of entire U.S. hospitals," adds Dr. DeMello.
Citing example of an American device company, he said it takes a US firm to conduct a 100-patient study in two years, whereas in India, it took only three months. Data and information yielded from the study resulted in a net savings to the sponsor company of $20 million.
The Alquest model is embraced by Tom Harold, CEO and founder of ScyFIX, an early-stage ophthalmic device company that will launch its Indian trial end of this year.
"Through Alquest we will not only save considerable time and money, but be able to conduct more expansive clinical trials in support of our U.S. approvals. This is important to the success of our company and the needs of our investors," he said.
"We are delighted to support the ethical introduction of novel and meaningful medical technologies to the people of India, and to produce FDA-quality data to the benefit of our customers," Alexander adds.