Aptuit’s Italian Research & Development Centre Reach 100 Clients
Aptuit have announced that they have made swift progress in attracting clients to the drug discovery and development centre they acquired from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Verona, Italy as part of a strategic agreement in June 2010.
The American founded drug development services organisation now has 100 clients, covering a range of large pharmaceutical multinationals, mid-size and small pharma, biotechs and start-ups. Aptuit started in Verona, Italy with just one client – GlaxoSmithKline.
The centre had been shelved by GSK’s decision to reduce their discovery activities in the neurosciences.
Under their strategic partnership, the two businesses agreed that the 500 employees who were currently working at the Medicines Research Centre would transfer to Aptuit, while Aptuit would provide GlaxoSmithKline with research and development services from the Italian facilities.
The client list now comprises of businesses from the European Union, North America, Asia and South America, with projects from a variety of therapeutic areas, Mark Hembarsky, vice president and site leader of the facility noted.
Boehringer Ingelheim, UCB, Pfizer, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Chiesi Farmaceutici, Autifony Therapeutics and C10 Pharma have all become clients of the recently revived facility.
According to Mark Hembarsky, most clients have since contracted repeat business with Aptuit, and several clients have requested proposals for further work before the original project was completed.
Aptuit operates five worldwide facilities in total, with roughly 800 employees across Europe and the United States. The organisation also sustains a strategic relationship with Laurus Labs in India.