CAMBRIDGESHIRE, UK, 18th May 2009 – Quotient Bioresearch Limited (“Quotient”), a leading provider of drug development services, today announces that it has acquired Charles River Laboratories’ (Charles River) Edinburgh clinical research facility. This represents the sixth acquisition in approximately three years for Quotient.   The Charles River facility, formerly Inveresk Clinical Research, will combine with Pharmaceutical Profiles, acquired by Quotient in December 2008, to form a new strategic business unit within Quotient - Quotient Clinical.   With a long heritage in early development services, the Charles River Edinburgh clinical unit will combine with Pharmaceutical Profiles to offer a suite of integrated services stretching from First-in-Human (FIH) through to Phase 2a patient studies.   Founded almost 20 years ago, the Edinburgh clinical unit is an industry leader in FIH studies. It was awarded Supplementary Accreditation status by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in January 2009, demonstrating its experience and capabilities to conduct FIH trials for small molecules and biologics.   Quotient Clinical will have a workforce of approximately 160 medical, scientific and clinical staff across the two facilities in Edinburgh and Nottingham. With an existing strong customer base in the United States, Europe and Japan, the principal focus of Quotient Clinical is to provide a unique and comprehensive range of early development services to a broad range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.   Paul Cowan, Chairman and CEO of Quotient comments, “The creation of Quotient Clinical represents the next step in expanding the range of specialised services we offer pharmaceutical and biotech customers worldwide. We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of the Charles River Edinburgh clinical facility. With the Inveresk heritage we are bringing a world-class facility and clinical experience to Quotient Clinical.”   Quotient Clinical will be headed by Mark Egerton, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Pharmaceutical Profiles. “We will continue to build on the innovative approaches we developed at Pharmaceutical Profiles to increase the effectiveness of early development processes. Combined with the Phase I/2a expertise of the Charles River Edinburgh clinical unit, our approach to integrating flexible drug product manufacture into clinical trials will enable us to deliver significant benefits to our customers.”   For more information on Quotient Clinical, please call +44 (0)115 9749000, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.quotientbioresearch.com Read more: Quotient Bioresearch Acquires Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility from Charles River Laboratories...

However Lives Are At Risk As 1 In 12 Workers Admit To Feeling Under Pressure To Take Risk 

Over half of UK businesses making cutbacks this year say that bosses’ bonuses will be the first to go before health and safety management, according to a new survey from the British Safety Council (BSC). 

 

However, the results of the survey are not all good news as the recession is having a significant effect on health and safety in the workplace, which could put lives at risk.  One in 10 workers is fearful of raising concerns about Health and Safety issues in the current economic climate.  And one in 12 workers feels under pressure from their boss to take risks with people’s safety in order to save money.   With one person a day in the UK dying in the workplace this is a real cause for concern.

Read more: UK Bosses Prepared To Cut Their Own Bonuses Before Health And Safety

6th May 2009 - Toumaz Holdings, the specialist niche investor in emerging technologies, is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary Toumaz Technology Limited ('Toumaz Technology') has successfully completed the timely delivery of the hardware, software and sensors that are being used to capture large-scale data in the first phase of DIAdvisor(tm)’s clinical trial. DIAdvisor(tm)  is a collaborative research project aiming to develop a personal blood glucose predictor and treatment advisor for diabetes patients. DIAdvisor(tm)  (http://www.diadvisor.eu) is a large-scale integrating project (IP) aiming at the development of a prediction-based tool which uses past and easily available information to optimise the therapy of type I and developed type II diabetes.

Read more: Toumaz Technology Successfully Delivers Technology Platform for collaborative EU-funded...

by Ian Kilpatrick, chairman Wick Hill Group, IT security specialists
 
If a flu epidemic really does take hold in this country, will your business be able to survive minus large numbers of staff? Ian Kilpatrick, chairman Wick Hill Group, specialists in IT security, gives ten key actions companies can take and explains how business can continue if staff are able to work from home.

1. Check your insurance. You're probably not going to be covered for business losses if a pandemic strikes, so you need to plan to minimise the impact.

2. Get the plan in place NOW. If you need to implement any new equipment, you don't want to be doing that during the first or second wave of flu. And staff may not be available at your suppliers or onsite to carry out any installations.

Read more: Ten tips to keep your business going in a pandemic