When people hear the word ‘outsourcing,’ many tend to think it’s a bad thing because we are losing something to another company or country. However, not all outsourcing is bad, especially when it makes a positive impact on our lives and our health. How so? Well there are many drugs out there on the market and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are literally developing hundreds of medicines every day, but before any of these drugs can make it on to the store shelves or to the local pharmacy, they must go through clinic trials or some type of research study. With each new drug, companies must show how well it will work in people. Since the production of new medicine is so fast and competitive, pharmaceutical companies are outsourcing the clinic portion to companies like Holmes Biopharma, Inc.
Holmes Biopharma, Inc. is a development stage company founded in 1998, and through its subsidiary Qualia Clinical Services, Inc., operates as a contract research company. The company provides clinical research and development services. Holmes Biopharma serves biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Pharmaceutical companies are outsourcing to reduce time, expenditures, free up resources for other endeavors, and reduce financial risk. In the U.S. larger drug companies have been outsourcing drug development, clinical and manufacturing services for many years, which has provided an opportunity for companies such as Holmes Biopharma.
The company supports the global research and development needs of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies and its services range from laboratory testing to data analysis and human clinical trials management. The company relies on a highly competent development team to supply clients with world-class consultative scientific and regulatory support, quality data and the capacity to complete studies on time.
Holmes growth is contingent on the growth of the R&D outsourcing industry, and according to Kalorama Information, R&D outsourcing has increasingly been accepted as an alternative by both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies over the last decade. For example, in 1997, only 37% of pharmaceutical companies outsourced R&D projects and by 2005 the percentage had grown to 70%. Also the percentage that pharmaceutical companies spend on R&D outsourcing has increased from 10% of total U.S. pharmaceutical industry R&D spending in 1997 to 33% in 2005, and is expected to grow to 41% by 2009. The market for outsourced drug discovery is expected to grow at 15% per year from US$4.1 billion in 2005 to US$7.2 billion in 2009.
Holmes currently has active contracts with six of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world and in order to continue to take advantage of this market, Holmes has enlisted the services of industry professionals who have expertise in all aspects of management, marketing and operation of the clinical research and drug development businesses including; Sohail Khattak, MD, President, and CEO. Dr. Khattak has worked extensively in the research field for over 18 years.
The company is beginning this year on a good note as it saw January sales for its Phase I operation reach 3 Million in awarded contracts. However the company will have to compete in this market as international companies are in the mix of the R&D outsourcing trend and many bioteches are looking at overseas companies in China, India, Singapore, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico and Israel. Pharmaceutical companies looking for effective solutions, thus, prefer outsourcing to low-cost, developing countries rather than persisting with expensive R&D efforts in the West.
If Holmes can continue to attract big name pharmaceutical companies by keeping their costs competitive with other international companies, as well as continue to offer invaluable service, the company will have a successful outlook in this ever growing outsourcing world.
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