SIRO Clinpharm Private Limited (SIRO), the first CRO in India to start operations in 1996, offers full scope services, conducting clinical trials in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices sectors in compliance with international standards. It has offices in India and the US and a recently set up base in Europe.

Till date, SIRO has conducted over 130 clinical trials, recruiting over 20,000 clinical trial subjects, serving 9 out of the Top 10 global pharma and biotech companies as well as mid-size companies, passed over 240 audits by sponsor QA teams and working on USFDA, EMEA, UK MHRA, Korean FDA WHO Health Canada, & DCGI submissions.

The 12-year-old CRO, which today has presence across 17 countries, had for a long time been looking at newer geographies apart from the usual matured markets which is why last year, it went on a 'go global mission� wherein, it entered the East European market and other non-traditional countries-all of which provide the same advantages as India namely, trained and skilled expertise and trials at a much lower cost.

“The company has chalked out major plans for North America and South East Asia to achieve a turnover of Rs 500 crore in the coming months. SIRO Clinpharm's investors [Kotak Private Equity, 3i and Daftarys (founders)] will go in for an exit strategy through an IPO route by 2011,� said Dr Chetan Tamhankar, CEO, SIRO Clinpharm.

SIRO Clinpharm having presence in India, Western & Central Eastern Europe, and US now entered into alliance with DreamCIS Inc. a leading CRO from South Korea. This will help SIRO to build a strong competitive advantage in entire Asia Pacific region, while on the other hand it will create a sustainable value for its existing as well as potential customers. Similarly, it also signed alliance with Virginia Contract Research Organization, a Taiwan-based CRO to offer a range of services to Taiwan companies.

Not just Asia Pacific market SIRO also looked at expanding its operations in the developed market like USA and Europre. In that direction it has signed alliance with Advanced Clinical Trial Solutions LLC (ACT Solutions), Flemington, NJ, USA. This will help SIRO to expand its Oncology Clinical development and patient recruitment expertise to North America.

Having presence in Europe with the acquisition of Omega Mediation, a Germany-based CRO in April 2008, in 2009 SIRO opened its office in Prague, Czech Republic to further strengthen its operational capabilities in Europe.

Dr Tamhankar said, “We have major expansion plans in the coming months. In the next 12-18 months we want to tap key geographies like North America and Eastern Europe. In addition to this we would like to expand our service offerings. To fulfill these purposes we have to opt for IPO.�