Quintiles, the world's biggest biopharmaceutical contract research organization is moving deeper into the drug development ecosystem, with plans to invest in its clients' early stage programs and expand its market share through a broad marketing push.

 

To help maintain its lead, Quintiles is emphasizing what it calls "the four C's:" integrated clinical, commercial, consulting and capital solutions for its clients. To communicate the shift, the company is also rolling out a unified brand and tagline, "Navigating The New Health," with an ad campaign targeting biopharma executives in the United States, Europe and Japan.

 

Quintiles, which is based in Durham, North Carolina, posted 2008 revenue of about $3 billion, making it the leader of the global CRO market. That market, at least by Business Insights' estimates, will grow 14 percent per year during the next three years, making contract research a $35 billion industry by 2013.

 

Like its peers, Quintiles has been pressured to recalibrate to an environment in which its clients' early-stage drug candidates are often shelved or halted in favor of more advanced prospects, leading to less spending on R&D, even the cheaper outsourced sort offered by Quintiles.

 

For some of its competitors, such as Charles River Laboratories and PPD, the slowdown of CRO business in the United States has necessitated layoffs and restructuring. For others, like Quintiles, the change has highlighted opportunities for deeper collaboration with its customers, as evidenced by a risk-sharing development deal with Japan's Eisai on six potential oncology drugs.

 

“The New Health is our description of the rapidly changing world of biopharma,” says Quintiles COO John Ratliff. “We define the New Health in a number of ways, both as a journey and as a destination. The term encapsulates the risks and opportunities biopharma faces in today’s changing economic and healthcare settings.”