Thai pharma growing but lacks clin research

The pharmaceutical industry is growing rapidly in Thailand but, at present, lacks clinical research companies to help domestic pharmaceutical, cosmetics, herbal or biotechnology companies to test their products on international guidelines to ensure faster approval and market launch, according to Sasitorn Kittivoravitkul, chief executive of Bio-Innova and Synchron .

He added in an interview that "local scientists, doctors and pharmacists routinely carry out clinical trials, known as Phases I through IV, to test new medications on Thai volunteers at various public hospitals. Bio-Innova and Synchron, a Thai-Indian joint venture, is the first Thai company to provide clinical research services that test new medical treatments on human volunteers."

An accompanying press release stated that Bio-Innova has been "founded with registered capital of 50.0 million baht ($1.5 million), and is the first private sector contract research organization to focus on clinical research, bio-equivalence, pharmacokinetics, bio-availability, blood and urine analysis, statistical analysis and data management. Bio-Innova has a clinical research facility in the capital, Bangkok, with laboratories and medical professionals to oversee volunteers.