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Troubled e-clinical specialist Datatrak International (Cleveland, Ohio) could be up for sale shortly, depending on the outcome of a review of strategic options now under way.

In the latest of five acquisitions, Worldwide Clinical Trials (Beverley Hills, California) has completed the purchase of Serbian CRO MediQuest (Belgrade).

Canadian CRO Algorithme Pharma (Laval, Quebec) has acquired a US clinical research centre from Bioanalytical Systems (BASi - West Lafayette, Indiana) for US$850,000 in cash.

US e-clinical specialist Datatrak International (Cleveland, Ohio) has decided to close its office in Bonn, Germany. Global help-desk services previously carried out by the office will now be provided from the company’s Cleveland headquarters.

Veeda Oncology (Columbus, Ohio) has acquired French cancer trials specialist Biologie et Industrie for an undisclosed sum.

Quintiles Transnational (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) has signed an agreement to acquire Eidetics (Boston, Massachusetts), a privately held healthcare market research and consulting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Pharmaceutical services company i3 (Basking Ridge, New Jersey) has acquired Russian CRO Lege Artis (Moscow). Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mixed results for Novartis’s first-in-class direct renin inhibitor, Rasilez (aliskiren), have been reported from the ALLAY study at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago, US.

QPS (Newark, Delaware) has acquired early-phase specialist Bio-Kinetic Clinical Applications (Springfield, Missouri). Bio-Kinetic has a 240-bed Phase I facility - one of the largest in the US owned by an independent CRO.

US biotechnology company GeoVax Labs’ (Atlanta, Georgia) HIV/AIDS vaccine is expected to enter Phase IIa human trials in mid-2008.

Clinical technology specialist ClinPhone (Nottingham, UK) has rejected a preliminary approach from Parexel International regarding a possible offer for the company.

Polish CRO KCR (Warsaw) has acquired its Czech counterpart DUX Consulting (Prague). The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Merck KGaA’s Merck Serono division and Newron Pharmaceuticals (Milan, Italy) have launched a Phase III trial of safinamide as an add-on to dopamine agonist therapy in early Parkinson’s disease.

US cancer biotechnology company AVEO Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, Massachusetts) has signed a collaborative agreement with Eli Lilly to use AVEO's Human Response Platform in a pilot project.

Private equity firm Sequoia Capital has invested Rs 1 billion ($25 million) in Indian CRO GVK Biosciences (Hyderabad). GVK BIO plans to use the funds to build a state-of-the-art campus on a 25-acre site at Hyderabad.

UK CRO Chiltern International (Slough, Berkshire) has acquired the independent US CRO Clinical Trial Management Services. Terms were not disclosed.

Indian CRO Manipal AcuNova (Bangalore) and its German counterpart ECRON (Frankfurt) have signed a definitive merger agreement. The combined company, ECRON AcuNova, will have 265 employees

Averion International has acquired Swiss CRO Hesperion from its parent company, Cerep, for €25 million ($36.2 million).

Isotechnika (Edmonton, Canada) has received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration for the long-term use of ISA247 for the prevention of rejection in patients currently participating in its Phase IIb kidney transplant (PROMISE) trial.

Development of Takeda Pharmaceutical’s cholesterol-lowering agent, TAK-475 (lapaquistat), will be held back following a request from the US Food and Drug Administration for additional clinical data.

BioReliance (Rockville, Maryland) has contracted with Gentronix (Manchester, UK) to offer its GreenScreen HC in vitro assay as a major part of BioReliance’s portfolio of genotoxicity screening services.

Results from a Phase I/IIb trial of GlaxoSmithKline’s malaria vaccine, Mosquirix (RTS,S/AS02D), published in The Lancet, indicate that it is safe, well tolerated and immunogenic in African infants.

Parexel International (Boston, Massachusetts) has acquired Taiwanese CRO Apex International Clinical Research for T$1.7 billion (US$50.9 million). The acquisition was made by Parexel (Taiwan) Inc, which bought 20.3 million shares.

The European Medical Research Councils, part of the European Science Foundation (ESF, Strasbourg, France), is to undertake a review of how best to implement clinical trials that are initiated by investigators.

Averion International (Southborough, Massachusetts) has sold its staffing services division to members of its management team for $2.275 million.

The death of a patient in Targeted Genetics’ trial of its injectable anti-arthritis drug, tgAAC94, this summer was unlikely to have been caused by the drug, the company reports.

Pharmaceutical outsourcing, especially clinical research, is growing strongly - by more than 15% last year. With that growth comes a demand for more and more staff to handle the increasing volume of trials reports Shirley Scott, Operations Manager.

PPD (Wilmington, North Carolina) plans to expand its operations in Bellshill, Lanarkshire (Scotland, UK), doubling its employees to over 700. PPD will invest up to £15 million ($30 million) over the next three years to expand, creating 390 new jobs