Article 365: The Top CROs in Europe: PharmaNet, Covance, MDS Pharma and Quintiles

• Results of the 2004 Thomson CenterWatch European Investigative Site Survey that gauges the quality of the contract research organization-European site relationship finds that PharmaNet, Covance, MDS Pharma and Quintiles are the top CROs in Europe. As global CROs continue to focus on their operations in Europe, results from 2004 CenterWatch survey are critical. U.S.-based CROs continue to look to Europe for strategic acquisitions or joint ventures as the competition for global sponsor contracts increases.

Article 366: Small CROs Rise to the Global Challenge

• The contract research market continues to grow steadily at a 13% to 15% annual rate, but competition within the sector is intensifying as companies pursue aggressive strategies to grab market share. A CRO price war, touched off last summer, hit small CROs hard. A wave of industry consolidation is expected. Partly in response to added price pressures, small CROs and vendors are banding together by forming a trade association that will help them take on the large, global CROs that already have an association of their own. The association hopes to help give their members the ability to offer a broad array of services in one stop—just as the global CROs already do.

Article 367: EMEA and DIA Team Up to Offer EudraVigilance Training

• The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and the Drug Information Association (DIA) have launched the EudraVigilance/DIA training programme, a large scale user training program.

Article 368: Eye on: ADHD

• ADHD is now the most often diagnosed neurological and behavioral disorder in childhood. CenterWatch has identified a pipeline of 11 drugs in development for ADHD.