Quintiles will bring its clinical trial services to a global consortium supported in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at bringing new, affordable medicines to the world’s poorest countries.
The Durham, N.C.-based company was selected as a preferred provider to 14 Product Development Partnerships, or PDPs — nonprofit entities that work to develop new drugs for underserved patient populations.
The PDP model is largely one of outsourced drug development, from R&D through clinical trials, according to the company.
One example of a PDP is the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a Switzerland-based public-private partnership working for the discovery and development of new, affordable antimalarial medicines.
Besides the Gates Foundation, the PDPs receive funding from government agencies and private sources. Financial terms of Quintiles involvement were not disclosed, but the contract research organization said that the consortium of 14 PDPs expect to fund 128 clinical trials over the next two years. Those drug candidates will have access to the global drug-testing infrastructure of Quintiles, particularly in the areas of infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.
Dr. Kelly McKee, Quintiles vice president and managing director, public health and government services, said in a statement that the PDPs work holds promise for helping patients worldwide.
“The work they’re doing has the potential to reshape global health within a generation,” McKee said. “The public health issues on which they are focused has the potential to save millions of lives.”