Contract research organization (CRO) Quintiles is partnering with Apollo Hospitals Group in India to open a phase I clinical trial unit in Hyderabad, India.

Scheduled to open in early 2010 on Apollo’s Hyderabad hospital campus, the new unit will have approximately 50 beds with the capacity to expand to 100 beds, if necessary. Quintiles and Apollo anticipate their combined investment for the new unit will be $6 million.

The new unit, which will evaluate compounds developed both within and outside of India, will be Quintiles’ fifth location in India, but the first offering phase I services.

“Phase I development in both healthy volunteers and patients is at the forefront of our quest for new and better medicines. Phase I can help expedite the development process and ensure that only those compounds with most promise are further evaluated,” said Quintiles’ senior vice president, global phase I, Eddie Caffrey, in a company statement.

Quintiles’ other phase I facilities are located in England, Kansas and Sweden.