Siro Clinpharm, one of the first CROs in India, has set up a new entity in the US to tap the growing contract research market in the country. Soon the company will be setting up another unit in Latin America. Further, it plans to set up new entities in the growing markets of Eastern and Central Europe by the middle of this year.

At present, the company earns 90 per cent of its revenue from the regulated markets of the US and Europe.

A senior executive of the company told Pharmabiz, "Through the new entity, our focus will be on sales and marketing and US-based project management. It will be an interface between Siro and our clients in the US."

"We will appoint a group of experts in the US to help us in clinical study management, to identify the clients, and make them aware of the advantages for conducting research through Indian companies, which will be cost effective to them," he added.

Siro would carry out the trials in the US, if the companies insist and would outsource the trials to India as well. The company plans to work with other US-based companies for regulatory affairs, he said.

"Around 2000 biotech companies are working in the US. There is a boom in India in the contract research sector. Most of the US-based companies are unaware of the advantages if the work is outsourced to India. So, we aim at making them aware and increase our turnover by setting up business relationships with them. We hope the new entity will help us a lot," he said adding, "Ninety per cent of our revenue comes from the foreign companies, out of our 25 clinical research contracts and 25 data management contracts."

Recently, SIRO Clinpharm formed Ventiv-SIRO (India), an exclusive joint venture with the US-based Ventiv Health Inc.'s Ventiv Clinical Services division, offering drug companies India-based clinical data management services.

Earlier, it had entered into agreements with the Washington-based Spacelabs Medical Data, for providing cardiac safety and efficacy services for clinical studies that SIRO conducts in India for its clients and Covance Inc, the world's largest drug development services company, to offer services in India.

In May 2004, Pfizer Global Research and Development (PGRD), through its affiliate in India, had entered into a partnership with Siro covering the provision of clinical data management and biometrics services.

SIRO Clinpharm, one of the largest CROs in India founded in 1995, offers comprehensive, independent management of phase II-IV clinical trials. Working with more than 100 hospitals and medical research centres throughout India, SIRO provides full clinical development services to pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies from North America, Europe, Japan and India.