from left: Val Willetts (President Aska Research), Dr. Francisco Harrison (Chairman HCR Group)

HCR and ASKA announce strategic alliance

HCR and ASKA are proud to announce that they have agreed on a formal strategic alliance to expand the global reach of both companies and to better serve their clients in all aspects of global drug and medical device development, education services, and clinical trial management.

Through this relationship, ASKA will be able to offer full clinical monitoring and management services to their existing and new clients for trials to be conducted in Europe as well as in Canada and the USA. In addition, ASKA will have increased access to HCR’s proven expertise and considerable experience in offering clinical research services within Europe. These developments will enable ASKA to offer comprehensive global resources to their clients.

The relationship with ASKA provides HCR access to a pool of experienced and qualified monitoring staff located throughout Canada and, through other ASKA strategic partners, within the USA. This will provide European based clients the opportunity to expand trials into Canada and the USA, and have the trials managed and monitored by local professional staff possessing strong relationships with North American sites and investigators. The regionally based management will increase the efficiency of trials, including potential for improved risk management, enhanced enrollment and cost effective monitoring.

HCR is a successful clinical research service provider based in Munich, Germany. This privately owned company has been established for over 20 years and throughout has been led by its founder, Francisco Harrison, MD, who, after post-graduate medical studies in Munich, held several medical management positions within Contract Research Organizations and the pharmaceutical industry before setting up HCR. HCR offers a full range of specialized services designed to meet specific client needs, from single studies to complete development programmes. Services include Phase I-IIa (in HCR’s own clinics), Phase II-IV, Outsourcing, Monitoring, Biostatistics and Data Management, Medical Writing, Auditing and Training. HCR can arrange European Union representation for companies operating outside Europe. For bio-pharmaceutical products, HCR can also offer help with Contract Manufacturing, Business Partnering and Resource Funding as well as complete clinical development and reporting. HCR maintains ISO 9001:2000 certification for quality management.

Since inception, HCR has expanded to establish affiliate offices in the UK, Benelux, Israel, Spain, France, Italy and Austria, and recently in Russia, Ukraine and Poland, and offers services in Eastern Europe. HCR also has representative offices in Japan and USA. All affiliate offices offer complete monitoring of clinical studies from Phase II-IV and also provide tailored local consultancy. HCR also has a number of global associates.

Valerie Willetts, Founder, President and CEO of ASKA Research notes “Over the past six years we have collaborated with HCR on a number of projects. We are impressed with the considerable expertise HCR offers to clients with regard to the provision of effective, customized and quality based clinical services. Developing a formal strategic alliance with HCR allows ASKA to offer clients a full range of services in both Europe and North America – and we share the HCR stated intention to ‘advise our clients on the best approach to obtain marketing approval of their products and consider this as part of our mission’.”

ASKA Research, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is a clinical services provider and maintains a full service to meet client outsourcing needs. ASKA’s core competencies of clinical trial monitoring and management services are located throughout North America. Client-focused and committed to strategic growth, ASKA offers responsive services including Clinical Development Planning, Monitoring for all phases of clinical trials involving pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, biologics and medical devices, Project Management, Regulatory Support, Quality Assurance, Clinical Trial Auditing and Standard Operating Procedures. ASKA also maintains and manages an extensive network of experienced clinical research professionals including Clinical Research Associates (CRAs) and Project Managers and other experienced operatives located in major urban centers across Canada and the USA. In addition, ASKA offers professional development in clinical quality related areas through the provision of customized company-specific or general training to companies worldwide.

Dr Francisco Harrison, Founder and Chairman of Harrison Clinical Research commented “ASKA Research and Harrison Clinical Research have previously associated on collaborative projects and we are please to announce this formal strategic alliance. ASKA has developed an outstanding network of qualified and experienced clinical monitoring and management professionals throughout North America, in particular Canada. The alliance allows HCR to complement our existing activities and extend our services through regional representation in North America”. HCR and ASKA will be exhibiting together at the 2008 DIA conference in Boston, Massachusetts from June 22 – 25, 2008. By exhibiting along with partners from the USA and Japan, ASKA and HCR will be able to present to clients a well developed global network of clinical research service providers to meet their clinical trial development, management and monitoring needs.

For further information, please contact Valerie Willetts, President of ASKA via: www.ASKAresearch.com or Francisco Harrison, Chairman of the Harrison Clinical Research Group.

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Dr. Francisco Harrison