PharmaNet Development Group is expanding its presence in Latin America with the opening of a new office in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The announcement of this new office comes just weeks after the contract research organization (CRO) signed a definitive merger agreement with private equity firm JLL Partners, a $250-million deal that will make the now public company a private CRO.

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CenterWatch, a global source for clinical trials information, will present results from four surveys aimed at examining the quality of relationships between sponsors and investigative sites from around the world at ExL Pharma’s 4th Investigator Relationship Management conference to be held Feb. 23-24, 2009, in Baltimore, Md.

CenterWatch’s Director of Market Research, Mary Jo Lamberti, Ph.D., will provide analysis of the survey results from nearly 2,000 investigative sites from the U.S., Canada and Europe, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, and highlight the attributes investigators rate as most essential in developing an effective sponsor-site relationship.

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Contract research organization (CRO) WIL Research Laboratories and its parent company WIL Research Holding Company have acquired Midwest BioResearch, a company that provides drug disposition and toxicology services to drug developers. Neither company provided financial details of the deal.

Midwest BioResearch president and founder Michael Schlosser, Ph.D., will continue to lead Midwest BioResearch’s Skokie, Ill., office under the management of WIL Research vice president and chief scientific officer Christopher Chengelis, Ph.D.

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Pfizer plans to publicly report payments made to clinical investigators, physicians and other healthcare professionals by early next year, making it the first pharmaceutical company to commit to disclosing payments it makes for conducting clinical trials, speaking and consulting.

The company plans to publish an annual online update of payments beginning in early 2010 and will include all payments made beginning July 1, 2009. The report will include payments exceeding $500 made to practicing healthcare providers who prescribe medicines, major institutions conducting clinical trials, and all principal investigators for Pfizer-sponsored phase I to IV clinical trials, as well as non-monetary items such as meals that cost more than $25.

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Clinical Trials and Surveys Corp (C-TASC), a clinical trials solutions company, hired three new biostatisticians and plans to double its staff in the next year. The company, which currently employs 35 people, plans to increase to 60 employees by February 2010 in order to keep up with increased demand for its clinical trial services and technologies.

The new biostatisticians are:

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Bio-Imaging Technologies reported 50% revenue growth for 2008 following the March 2008 acquisition of Phoenix Data Systems (PDS). Full year 2008 service revenues increased to $56.2 million, up from $37.5 million in 2007. PDS accounted for $12.5 million of that revenue.

Service revenues for the fourth quarter also increased, up 48% to $15 million compared with $10.1 million for the same period in 2007. For the full year 2008, net income jumped 73.5% to $5.8 million, or $0.40 per fully diluted share, compared with net income for the full year 2007 of $3.3 million, or $0.26 per fully diluted share.

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Wilmington, Mass.-based Charles River Laboratories reported another quarter of slower than expected sales growth in its Preclinical Services Segment (PCS), prompting the company to announce cost-saving measures including a 3% reduction in headcount for the first quarter 2009.

Net sales for Q4 2008 decreased 2.1% to $311.4 million from $318 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was down 13.6% to $39.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with $45.9 million for the same period in 2007. Fourth quarter diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis were $0.59, a decrease of 9.2% compared with $0.65 per share in the fourth quarter of 2007.

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Wilmington, N.C.-based CRO PPD reported full-year and fourth quarter 2008 earnings late yesterday, reflecting an 11% increase in its full year revenues despite a slight decrease in fourth quarter revenues.

Net income for the full year 2008 was $187.5 million, up from $163.4 in 2007. Net income for the quarter was also up—$47.2 million compared with a net income of $40.5 million in Q4 2007. Fourth quarter 2008 diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.40, an increase of 18% compared to $0.34 for the same period last year.

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Contract research organization Quintiles is partnering with India’s largest hospital group to open Quintiles’ first phase I clinical trial unit in India.

The new 50-bed unit will open early next year on the Hyderabad campus of Apollo Hospital Group, Quintiles’ partner in this venture. Apollo was selected after Quintiles met with the clinical pharmacology departments at various Indian hospitals.

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Waltham, Mass.-based eClinical technology company Phase Forward reported a strong fourth quarter and year end 2008, posting a 27% increase in revenues for the year and a 28% increase in revenues in Q4 compared with  the same period last year.

Revenues for the full year 2008 were $170.2 million, up from $134.3 million for 2007. Revenues for the fourth quarter were $48.3 million, up from $37.8 million in Q4 last year. According to a company release, this is Phase Forward’s 18th consecutive quarter of growth since its IPO in 2004.

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Covance opened three new clinical development offices in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East to speed clinical trials and develop strategic relationships in those areas.

Covance has been providing services in Central and Eastern Europe since 1994 and in Israel since 1995.

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PharmaNet Development Group signed a definitive merger agreement with private equity firm JLL Partners, a deal that will make the now public contract research organization (CRO) a private company.

Under the terms of the agreement, PharmaNet will be acquired by JLL in a two-part transaction. First, JLL will commence a tender offer to purchase all of PharmaNet’s outstanding shares at a price of $5 per share in cash. Second, the tender offer (expected to close at the end of the first quarter 2009) will be followed by a merger in which any untendered shares of common stock will be converted into the right to receive the same cash price per share paid in the tender offer.

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Japan’s Global CT Push Boosts CROs, EDC

Japan is making changes at every level of drug development—government, site, patient and sponsor—to improve the ease with which it can be included in global drug development programs. While sponsor companies still have to deal with aspects where Japan and the West fundamentally differ, inclusion of Japan in their global development programs has increased dramatically.

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Recognizing the growing potential for drug development in Southeast Asia, especially Japan, PRA International has entered into a strategic collaboration with two contract research organizations (CROs) in that region.

The Raleigh, N.C.-based CRO has partnered with LSK Global Pharma Services in South Korea and Mediscience Planning (MPI) in Japan to expand PRA’s ability to serve clients in Asia.

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Covance released strong fourth quarter and year end 2008 financial results late Wednesday with revenue increases in both early and late-stage development segments.

Total fourth quarter net revenues were $439 million, up 6.7% from the same period last year. Net income for the quarter was $45.6 million, down 2.5% year over year, with diluted earnings per share of $0.72, down 0.6% from the same quarter last year.

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Despite the troubled economy, the struggling eClinical industry and operating losses totaling $38 million, eClinical company Medidata filed an initial public offering in an effort to raise $86 million. The number of shares and share price for the offering have not yet been determined.

According to a statement filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York, N.Y.-based company had revenues of $84 million for the nine months ending September 30, 2008, up 38% from the same period 2007, but has also suffered operating losses every year since its founding in 1999.

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Contract research organization (CRO) Quintiles is partnering with Apollo Hospitals Group in India to open a phase I clinical trial unit in Hyderabad, India.

Scheduled to open in early 2010 on Apollo’s Hyderabad hospital campus, the new unit will have approximately 50 beds with the capacity to expand to 100 beds, if necessary. Quintiles and Apollo anticipate their combined investment for the new unit will be $6 million.

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Parexel’s second quarter financial results, released late Monday, reflect the ill effects of negative foreign exchange rates and a recently terminated contract.

The Waltham, Mass.-based contract research organization (CRO) reported an increase in service revenues for the second quarter of 2009 compared with the prior year, but year-over-year profits were cut by more than half from $11.5 million in the second quarter 2007 to $5.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008.

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M2S’ recent acquisition of DXA Resource Group (DRG) will enable the imaging company to offer new and specialized capabilities and expertise to sponsors of clinical trials.

The West Lebanon, N.H., company has provided image and data management services for clinical trials since 1992, but the company did not provide Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) services. DXA, an imaging modality used to measure bone mineral density and body mass composition, is increasingly used in clinical trials.

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After 17 years with the eClinical company, Jeffrey Green has stepped down as CEO of struggling Datatrak in order to pursue “other opportunities,” the company announced Thursday.

Datatrak has been focused on restructuring its operations since mid-2008 when the company appointed a new board chairman interim president and eliminated the position of chief operating officer.

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Premier Research Arizona, a division of UK-based CRO Premier Research Group, signed a purchase agreement to acquire Pivotal Research Centers, a site management organization specializing in phase II/IIa clinical trials.

Pivotal is owned by Peabody, Mass.-based Pioneer Behavioral Health, a provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services.

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Patient recruitment provider Acurian hopes the popularity of MySpace and Facebook will transfer to the clinical trial industry with its new social networking application, Click it Forward.

The new free application, which users can add to their existing Facebook and MySpace pages, is designed to promote clinical research and volunteering in clinical trials, as well as help grow Acurian’s existing database of individuals who have opted to receive information on clinical trial opportunities.

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While Kendle and Parexel became the latest contract research organizations (CROs) to lower their profit and revenue outlooks last week, one CRO actually increased its earnings expectations.

Dublin, Ireland-based ICON increased its 2008 earnings per diluted share (EPS) range to $1.27 to $1.29, up from the prior guidance of $1.23 to $1.26, an increase that was driven by improving margins, according to ICON CEO Peter Gray in an investor conference call last week. This EPS increase, however, comes with a reduction in ICON’s 2008 revenue guidance.

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Josephine Hoppe has joined contract research organization (CRO) Parexel as corporate vice president and chief information officer (CIO). Hoppe will handle Parexel’s IT initiatives and manage the integration of technology solutions with global business processes. Prior to joining Parexel, Hoppe was the CIO of Pegasystems, a business process management company.

In other personnel news from the clinical trial industry:

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Wilmington, N.C.-based PPD expects net revenue for 2009 to be in the range of $1.595 to $1.670 billion, a 12% increase over the CRO’s 2008 net revenue forecast. The company projects diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the full year 2009 will be in the range of $1.97 to $2.05, an 18% increase over its full year 2008 EPS forecast.

In October, based on Q3 financial results, the company lowered its full year 2008 revenue projection to between $1.47 billion and $1.49 billion from $1.54 billion to $1.59 billion as a result of an FDA delay in approving diabetes drug alogliptin.

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