Canadian contract research organization (CRO) ASKA Research entered into strategic partnerships with two CROs that will expand ASKA’s service offerings in North America and in Australia.

The first partnership, with Queensland, Australia-based Clinical Network Services (CNS), was made possible by the Economic Research Agreement between British Columbia and Queensland, which went into effect last June.  The agreement is designed to build international relations in key sectors, such as biotechnology and life sciences.

According to ASKA, the partnership with CNS is the first business-to-business partnership resulting from the intergovernmental alliance.

ASKA also entered into a partnership with Winnipeg, Canada-based Clinical Development Solutions (CDS), which focuses on cardiovascular and metabolic disease areas. ASKA and CDS will provide services to one another and their clients to reduce the time to market and production costs.

ASKA now has international business partners in Japan, Europe, the U.S. and India.