Parexel debuts its Patient Innovation Center aiming for improved biopharma development | Digital Science

Global CRO Parexel debuted its Patient Innovation Center that is designed to boost efficiency and success across the board for biopharmaceutical development.

Parexel’s patient-centric approach and new innovation center target all areas of biopharma development from clinical trial design, recruitment, execution and market access, the company said. Parexel’s push is supported by a recent report it commissioned from The Economist Intelligence Unit that said patient-centric trials resulted in recruiting participant patients in half the time, and that drugs developed using such an approach were 19% more likely to be launched. Despite this, the report said, a patient-centric approach was used in only 5.2% of phase 2 and 3 trials across the industry.

“While the evidence is clear that patient-centric approaches can improve the development process, many sponsors remain in need of a road map to effectively apply these strategies over time,” Sy Pretorius, M.D., a senior VP at Parexel, said in a statement. “Through the Patient Innovation Center, we aim to bring the full breadth of our services, expertise and innovation to clients to help more-effectively implement these approaches, reducing the barriers and optimizing patient involvement throughout the drug development and commercialization journey.”

A little over a year ago, Paraxel merged into Pamplona Capital Management in a $5 billion deal that saw the CRO go private. In March, company co-founder Josef von Rickenbach, who was the chairman and chief executive, retired after a 35-year tenure. Jamie Macdonald, who previously led INC Research, was tapped as von Rickenbach’s replacement.