inVentiv Health, a Princeton, N.J.-based provider of clinical development and commercialization services, will open a new phase I/IIA clinic in Miami, expanding its phase I clinical services to the U.S.

The clinic will facilitate patient access and help expedite progression to proof-of-concept (PoC) for pharma and biotech clients seeking access to broad patient demographics. The new clinic, which expects to begin running studies in the second half of 2015, will complement inVentiv Health’s existing clinical facility in Quebec City, Canada.

“Phase I clinical research continues to become more complex, requiring rapid recruitment of unique patient and special populations,” said Riaz Bandali, president of the early stage business unit for inVentiv Health’s Clinical Division. “The location of the clinic—in the U.S., specifically in Miami—will help provide broad patient access thanks to a large population and diverse demographic. This should enable us to better meet the needs of our clients as they navigate the complex regulatory environment of drug development and approval.”

The 65-bed Miami clinic, located in the University of Miami Life Science and Technology Park, will focus on complex studies including first-in-human phase I, phase I in-patient and other multifaceted phase I trials such as drug-drug interaction, biosimilar, first-to-file and 505b2 trials.

“With inVentiv Health’s phase II-IV clinical business offerings, and our two bioanalytical laboratories in Princeton and Quebec City, our clients should have the information they need to become smarter earlier in the development process, enabling decisions that may improve the design and impact of their confirmatory studies,” said Bandali. “For us, it’s an exciting extension of inVentiv Health’s commitment to accelerating the delivery of our clients’ therapies to market.”