Max Neeman International, a leading contract research organization (CRO) in India, has quadrupled the amount of clinical trials awarded since 2007 and reached the milestone of over 200 in 2010. Dr Ajoy Kumar, CEO, Max Neeman, said, “Focused areas of specialty, unique offerings, customer service and consistent growth in response to customer demand, are the cumulative factors which helped us to achieve this number.”

This milestone depicts Max Neeman’s strong growth in three years and testifies the company’s philosophy and work ethics. The company boasts a 98 percent patient retention rate and has met target enrollments by the deadline while facing challenges of conducting studies involving tough protocols, gigantic enrollment targets and stringent regulatory requirements.

Over 200 trials enhance Max Neeman’s experience in dealing with various therapeutic segments and unexplored areas of nutraceuticals, biosimilars and medical devices. In response to increased client demand over the decade, Max Neeman expanded its medical writing, data management, central lab and pharmacy services as well.

Max Neeman has also brought together US and India-based renowned group of neuro and spinal surgeons from prestigious hospitals to form an advisory committee. The committee develops strategies for clinical research across newer therapies for central nervous system disorders. Regulatory challenges and technical issues along with associated strategies of conducting the clinical trials of newer therapies in India were planned.


BenchBio, Genoscreen tie up for research
In a major development in the field of crop genomics research, the Vapi (Gujarat)-based plant biotechnology company, BenchBio, has entered into an agreement with Genoscreen of France. The companies would share their resources to explore more in the field. BenchBio is an Indian biotechnology company that offers R&D projects and contract research services in the area of genomics, transcriptomics, high throughput marker development, bioinformatics and genome sequencing in crops. While the France-based company Genoscreen’s next generation sequencing technology is expected to give lots of scope in this field.

Mr Manash Chatterjee, founder and director, BenchBio, said, “This collaboration will allow both companies to develop innovative technologies to provide solutions to the problems faced by seed companies.”

The company mainly works on functional genomics using an organisms own genome and creates novel traits in crops without genetic modification. The collaboration combines the strong genomics research expertise of Genoscreen with the crop research experience and knowledge of BenchBio. The agreement is expected to focus more on India widely enabling the development of significantly improved crops for farmers worldwide.


QPS acquires majority stake in Indian CRO
US-based contract research organization, QPS, has acquired a majority stake in Bioserve Clinical Research. Bioserve, a full-service phase I CRO headquartered in Hyderabad, India, will be known as QPS-Bioserve India. QPS is a global CRO supporting drug discovery and development since 1995. Its five areas of expertise include preclinical DMPK/toxicology, bioanalytical, translational medicine, early-stage and late stage clinical research.

Bioserve is an ISO 9001:2008 certified organization providing world-class clinical research services to sponsors across the globe. Its infrastructure includes a 92-bed clinical unit for conducting phase I studies and a bioanalytical lab equipped with multiple LC/MS/MS systems for small molecule bioanalysis. Over the past six years, it has conducted over 500 studies, with numerous product approvals, and has been inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration, UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, World Health Organization and Drug Controller General of India.

The company has been growing at a rate of over 50 percent per year, with a current team of over 100 employees. Clients include large Indian as well as multinational pharmaceutical firms. Bioserve’s promoters – the founders of Vijaya Diagnostic Center, one of the largest diagnostic healthcare companies in India – brings a wealth of 30 years experience in the healthcare and clinical domain, combined with a passion for quality.