12 GHP / Biotechnology Awards 2022 Jan22272 Altasciences is a forward-thinking,mid-size contract researchorganisationoffering pharmaceutical andbiotechnology companies aproven, flexible approach to earlyphase drug development.Wefindoutmore fromCEO, Chris Perkin. Most Innovative Global CRO/CDMO 2022 For over 25 years, drug development solution partner, Altasciences, has been teaming up with sponsors to help them make educated, faster, and more complete early drug development decisions. Altasciences’ integrated, full-service solutions include preclinical safety testing, clinical pharmacology and proof of concept, bioanalysis, and drug formulation and manufacturing — all customisable to specific sponsor requirements. CEO, Chris Perkin, tells us more about the industry. “The CRO/CDMO industry does not change quickly, and we recognised there was a gap in the market,” he begins, speaking of the rationale behind the organisation’s inception. “Often, outsourcing critical phases of early drug development means working with separate CROs and CDMOs, and the sponsor assumes the burden of managing and liaising across services and companies. Transferring data, projects and/ or methodologies between CROs/CDMOs can take time, is prone to error, and can lead to prolonged R&D timelines. From bottlenecks to handoffs, these challenges ultimately delay the arrival of potentially life-saving drugs to market. Many new biopharma companies are often semi-virtual, and typically light on infrastructure and personnel, so we figured there must be an opportunity to build a drug development solution platform that would comprise all the pieces these companies would need to progress their lead candidates through to clinical proof of concept.” Chris adds, with regards to the organisation’s vision, “Our philosophy is to have multiple points of entry, but a single coordinated response.” This would make Altasciences the first CRO/CDMO to do so. “We created an early phase drug development solution that provides simplified outsourcing with a proactive approach,” Chris further explains. Altasciences has been concentrating on developing its portfolio, streamlining the outsourcing paradigm, while entering new markets to offer its clients a comprehensive onestop solution to accelerate their early phase drug development. In 2020, they acquired a CDMO facility in Pennsylvania (formerly Alliance Contract Pharma). The following year, the organisation added two other companies: a clinical site in Los Angeles, CA, (formerly WCCT Global) and a preclinical site in Scranton, PA (Calvert Laboratories). And then in January of this year, Altasciences added Sinclair Research, a third preclinical site to its thriving organisation. “These acquisitions have further enabled our coast-tocoast offering and boosted our expertise and capabilities,” Chris elaborates. Differentiation in this sector is important in order to stay ahead, and Altasciences has modelled itself as a different kind of CRO/ CDMO. They have developed a solution called Proactive Drug Development. Altasciences’ Proactive Drug Development includes comprehensive communication plans, central program management and scheduling, and expertly designed roadmaps to get their clients from lead candidate selection to clinical proof of concept and beyond more efficiently. This is made possible by the organisation’s full-service solution offering, which enables a drug sponsor to partner with Altasciences for all its early phase drug development instead of contracting multiple service providers. “Whether they partner with us for an entire program, or for just one study, we use the same approach… seamless handoffs from milestone to milestone, to reduce complexities and save clients time and money, so that they can increase asset attractiveness to move on to the next stage,” says Chris. Internal culture plays a key role in the organisation’s continuing success. Despite geographic distance between its eight sites, Altasciences has the systems, procedures, and company culture to support its philosophy of moving in unison. In fact, it now has more than a thousand employees in North America partnering with its clients to provide solutions that get better drugs to the people who need them, faster. “We are committed to helping our clients reach critical decision-making milestones sooner by improving ‘speed and ease’ from lead candidate selection to clinical proof of concept. We continuously look for ways to build our relationships and range of capabilities, offer scientific guidance, and create an environment that provides value for our clients, respect for our participants, care for our research animals, as well as growth for our employees.” Recently, the company was recognised in the Global Health & Pharma Biotechnology Awards and named Most Innovative Global CRO/CDMO 2022, and with core values of respect, quality and excellence, integrity, customer focus, and employee development, Altasciences is well-placed for further growth and expansion in the near future. “We have no plans of stopping — We’re currently looking at expansion into Europe, and I should have some more exciting news to share soon.” Contact: Chris Perkin Company: Altasciences Web Address: www. altasciences.com Altasciences
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