Q-Pharm toasts success after first year in operation

Queensland's first Phase I clinical trials facility, Q-Pharm, has just celebrated its first birthday with almost 20 clinical trials under its belt already.

Q-Pharm was established as a joint venture between Queensland's Institute of Medical Research and the University of Queensland.

It was set up to enable the testing of potential new therapeutic products on humans to determine that they cause no harm before moving into the larger scale Phase II trials for efficacy testing.

Among its first-year achievements was the successful conduct of the first human tests of a monoclonal antibody that Australian biotech Agen is developing as a diagnostic for deep vein thrombosis.

Q-Pharm has also secured contracts from clients in the United Kingdom and United States and is to conduct tests for Australian tanning drug developer EpiTan in November.

More than 500 volunteers have participated in the 18 trials so far completed at Q-Pharm, which is housed in QIMR's Clive Berghofer Cancer Research Centre.

Another 33 are also set to go, with the group claiming to have exceeded forecast revenues for the year.

As well as using healthy volunteers, a growing number of trials were being conducted in patients with particular illnesses and the company was developing an expanding number of collaborations with doctors at Brisbane's major hospitals to assist with these trials.

The company said early indications suggested it would grow strongly from its first year base, with Q-Pharm's expansion plans focussed on international as well as Australian clients.

It said further development of Q-Pharm included the refurbishment of an entire floor at Royal Brisbane Hospital, which would become a 36-bed clinical trial facility for the company and augment its existing 12-bed specialised Phase I facilities.