Servier Opens New Canadian Clinical Development Center
By Lori Clapper
Servier Canada announced the opening of its Montreal, Canada-based Clinical Development Center last week. The facility will target studies in the cardiovascular disease, oncology, and neuropsychiatry therapeutic areas.
This new facility will act as home base for the company’s international clinical research and development (R&D) efforts and will host basic research projects, as well as phase 1 to 3 studies. In addition, researchers will continue to develop research partnerships with medical organizations such as the Montreal Heart Institute, INRS University, CRCHUM, and MUHC.
During the inaugural activities, Servier announced the creation of the “Dr. Madeleine Tremblay Servier and Groupe Servier fund for the development of medicinal products,” at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Université de Montréal. This $750 thousand scholarship will help fund and enhance the education of future pharmaceutical industry talent. Tremblay is internationally renowned for her accomplishments in the pharmaceutical industry as the founder of Servier Canada in 1978 and a fundamental player in the growth of the company.
Servier Canada CEO Frédéric Fasano addressed the inaugural attendees, saying ‟We are today very proud to open the doors to our new center for excellence in clinical development just over one year after its announcement. This $17 million investment illustrates the importance of research to our growth model. We have invested a total of $100 million over the past five years in Canada.”
Olivier Laureau, president, Groupe Servier Group added that the research center lands the company in a location where the life sciences are “becoming a key platform for innovation.”
Servier Canada, the fourth subsidiary of Groupe Servier, currently employs over 325 people in Montreal and 161 in Quebec, and is focused on R&D activities in cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric diseases and solid and hematologic cancers. The company invested $35 million in research and development in 2013 and has three products in the pipeline that the company hopes will be registered in the next three years.