BOSTON – February 6, 2008, Rapid Growth of Asia-Pacific Clinical Trials Market Focus of New CenterWatch Report

CenterWatch, a publishing and information services company focused on market research about clinical trials, finds in a new report that the Asia-Pacific region is grabbing an increasing share of the global clinical trial market, and with new regulatory changes across the region, has already been growing at more than 50% in recent years.

According to the new 160-plus page report from CenterWatch entitled, Asia-Pacific’s Growing Role in Global Clinical Trials, Asia Pacific countries are tapping into their power as a bloc to boost their role in the expanding global clinical trials market.

An important part of the report contains the results from CenterWatch’s first-ever survey of clinical researchers in the region. CenterWatch surveyed more than 156 investigative sites from more than a dozen countries in Asia Pacific. The survey revealed, among other results, the key role of electronic data capture (EDC) of clinical trial information in this region.

Highlights of this report include:

• Charts of survey results from CenterWatch’s ground-breaking investigator survey of the region. Fifty charts with proprietary data are included.
• A pipeline of drugs in development in Asia-Pacific countries.
• Extensive interviews with executives from global pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations (CRO) who have on-the-ground experience in the Asia-Pacific region.
• A breakdown of contract research organizations country-by-country.

The global CRO market has been a great worldwide growth story and the Asia-Pacific region has been one of the hottest areas for this growth. 2007 saw more CRO mergers and acquisitions--35--than in any previous year since CenterWatch began tracking the market in the mid 1990s when contract research took off.

"More than half of those acquisitions were made to take advantage of the growth in global clinical trials. The largest CROs are strengthening their worldwide infrastructures. Some smaller and mid-sized CROs are looking to become global players to attain the size needed to be considered by big pharmaceutical companies for their large, global trials. Asia-Pacific was a hotbed of activity for clinical trials," said Steve Zisson, editorial director of CenterWatch.

Sara Gambrill, senior editor at CenterWatch and author of the report, noted, "Asia-Pacific is becoming an integral player in global drug development, and will be taking a leadership position on more global clinical trials projects."

To purchase your copy of Asia-Pacific’s Growing Role in Global Clinical Trials at the introductory rate of $795 (+ s/h), call us at 800-765-9647 or visit our online bookstore at www.centerwatch.com. This report is available in hardcopy or as a non-printable PDF.

Multi-reader discounts and corporate licenses are available. For more information, contact us at sales@centerwatch.com or 866-219-3440,ext. 4.

About CenterWatch

Founded in 1994, CenterWatch is a trusted source and global destination for clinical trials information for professionals and patients. A Boston-based publishing and information services company focusing on the clinical research industry, CenterWatch is a business of Jobson Medical Information. CenterWatch provides proprietary data and information about clinical trials through a variety of publications, databases and information services used by pharmaceutical and biotech companies, CROs, SMOs and investigative sites involved in all aspects of clinical trials.

As a pioneer in publishing clinical trials information, CenterWatch was the first Internet site to publish information about active clinical trials that could be accessed by patients and their advocates. Today, CenterWatch has one of the largest databases of clinical trials actively recruiting patients on the Internet. For more information about CenterWatch’s publications and services, please visit www.centerwatch.com.