On June 1, 2009, Synergy Research Group (SynRG), a Russia-based CRO, presented the English version of SynRG Orange Paper Q1 2009, a regular analytical report on the clinical trial market in Russia. The report contains hundreds of figures as well as dozens of tables covering various aspects of the Russian clinical trial market.

The Federal Service on Surveillance in Healthcare and Social Development of the Russian Federation (RosZdravNadzor, RZN) approved 113 new clinical trials during Q1 2009, a 13% decrease over the corresponding period of last year.

Clinical trials in Russia in Q1 2009 were sponsored by companies from 28 countries. Russian sponsors initiated the most new clinical trials (31), followed by American sponsors with 20, German sponsors with 12, and eight each by Swiss and Japanese sponsors and seven by UK sponsors.

Four new phase I studies were launched in the first quarter of 2009, three trials fewer than in the corresponding quarter of last year. The number of phase II trials notably decreased from 41 trials in the first quarter of 2008 to 26 in the first quarter of 2009. Despite the overall trend, the number of phase III trials demonstrated a slight increase over last year's number, up from 54 to 59 studies. The number of phase IV trials slightly decreased from 12 in Q1 2008 to nine new studies in Q1 2009.

The number of patients to be enrolled in phase II-IV trials launched in the first quarter of 2009 stood at 9,784 patients, nearly the same as last year's number.

Seventy percent of the new clinical in Q1 2009 were conducted in six therapeutic areas: 17 were initiated in cardiovascular diseases; 16 in neurology and oncology; 14 in infectious diseases; 12 in respiratory diseases; and 11 in endocrinology.

Synergy Research Group (SynRG) is a Russia-based full-service contract research organization established in 2002. Synergy Research Group is represented in Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Perm and Almaty (Kazakhstan), with company headquarters in Moscow.