BioPharma Services, Inc. Relocates to Expanded Clinic Facility in St. Louis MO due to Covid-19

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Bioanalysis–BioPharma Services, Inc. (BioPharma) is excited to announce the relocation of their US based clinical facility to a new location in the greater city of St. Louis, Missouri.

The ongoing pandemic has compelled BioPharma to re-evaluate our clinical operations in the city of Columbia MO, a community that has embraced BioPharma’s operations and allowed us to expand our clinical footprint in the USA. In this new climate of physical distancing and travel restrictions, minimizing travel and reducing the risk of community transmission will be of paramount importance. BioPharma has therefore made the strategic decision to continue its US operations at a new clinical centre located in the larger city of St. Louis. This move will serve to further safeguard our stakeholders including our sponsors, subject volunteers and staff members.

The new centre, located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, is the former site of St. Louis Clinical Trials (a subsidiary of Evolution Research Group). Located within 15 minutes of St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport, BioPharma’s US centre will allow for quick and easy access for our sponsors, monitors and visitors and minimize the distance of travel for the majority of our subject volunteers who reside in the city of St. Louis. The 2-story, 25,000 square foot clinic facility opened on June 1st with 100+ beds.

Our US operations will continue to be led by Andrew Janis, Director of Clinical Operations, BioPharma USA. We are also pleased to announce and welcome Dr. Artan Markollari, M.D., to our team as lead Principal Investigator of our US centre. With over 21+ years of experience in Family Medicine, Dr. Markollari joined the clinical research community over 5 years ago serving as an Investigator for Phase I clinical trials and Bioequivalence studies in the St. Louis area. The US site will continue to operate under the same umbrella of BioPharma SOPs that has allowed us to host 4 FDA inspections at our Columbia site with zero Form 483s being issued. Additionally, our operating guidelines and procedures have been further enhanced with rigorous protocols that have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While COVID-19 paused our clinical operations in the US, our Toronto, Canada site has remained operational throughout the last 12 weeks when self-isolation mandates were first enforced. Despite the challenging environment, BioPharma continues to offer world class clinical trials to support drug programmes including Phase I, Bioequivalence, Bioanalysis and Human Abuse Potential studies. Exacting new SOPs combined with additional in-house working guidelines and procedures, has allowed the Toronto site to overcome the daily obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to continue providing critical and essential research trial needs. With this experience in hand, the Executive and Management teams at BioPharma are confident these same working principles will be successfully executed at our US clinical centre in St. Louis.

Anna Taylor, Executive Vice President Business Development, noted, “Our team here in the US knows the St. Louis clinical landscape very well. This presents a unique opportunity for BioPharma to further grow and build on our reputation of agile client focused service. Our responsive team is ready to provide aggressive study start-up, innovative solutions and quality execution for all research needs.”

Renzo DiCarlo, CEO, further commented, “I am excited about our growth in St. Louis and the expansion of our Phase I capabilities in the US. Our team’s performance during these turbulent times has been exemplary and I am certain that our St. Louis site will well complement our outstanding record of clinical trial excellence.”

About BioPharma Services Inc.

BioPharma Services Inc. is a full-service Contract Research Organization (CRO) specializing in the conduct of Phase I/IIa and Bioequivalence clinical trials for international pharmaceutical companies worldwide. BioPharma has clinical facilities both in the USA and Canada with a total capacity of 300 beds with access to healthy volunteers and special populations. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, BioPharma’s comprehensive services also include Bioanalysis at our GLP Certified Laboratory, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Biostatistics and Safety Data Analysis (CDISC), Data Management and Medical Writing.

Contacts

Ms. Anna Taylor, Executive Vice President, Business Development, BioPharma Services, Inc.

[email protected]
+1 (416) 716-9177

Main Telephone: +1 (844) 747-8484

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.biopharmaservices.com