Celerion Expands Ophthalmological Capabilities to Patient Populations in Collaboration with Queen’s University, Belfast
(Lincoln, NE; Sep 30, 2014) – Celerion announces the expansion of ophthalmological services in our Belfast, Northern Ireland UK facility, by building on our successful relationship with Queen’s University in Belfast. Celerion will expand our collaboration with Queen’s University for access to patient populations, specialized procedures and their scientific expertise in this area.
This new focus will enable Celerion to apply expertise acquired from several years of performing precise ophthalmologic measurements as part of assessing the safety of new drug candidates. By moving beyond clinical safety assessment, Celerion scientists and colleagues at The Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University can perform assessments of drug effect in a controlled research environment. The focus will be on patients with eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal vein occlusions.
“We are very pleased with the expansion of ophthalmological capabilities to patient populations, which has been driven by client and market demand,” said Phil Bach, Vice President of Global Clinical Research at Celerion. “Celerion’s collaboration with Queen’s University in the area of respiratory studies has proven to be very successful. The group in Belfast, led by Professor Alan Stitt, has an international reputation in ophthalmology. Our expansion into the area of patient populations with important sight-threatening conditions represents an extension of this productive research collaboration. This is another example of how Celerion works to provide ways for our clients to move more rapidly to critical go/no-go decisions in drug development.”
“At Queen’s we are engaged in world-class research with the goal of understanding the causes of disease and improving outcomes for patients,” said Professor Alan Stitt, McCauley Chair of Experimental Ophthalmology and Director of the Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University. “The capability to perform well-designed early phase clinical studies is a key step in translating research from bench to bedside. Our collaboration with Celerion, a leader in early clinical research, represents an exciting opportunity to develop new therapies for patient benefit.”
Celerion’s facility in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK also has extensive early stage clinical capabilities based on First-In-Human experience with both NCEs and biologics, as well as bioequivalence, biosimilars, obesity, gastro-intestinal and respiratory studies.
About Celerion
Celerion, a leader in early clinical research, delivers Applied Translational Medicine. Celerion applies our expertise and experience to translating information gained in research discoveries, to knowledge of drug action and effect in humans to support early drug development decisions and the clinical pharmacology labeling of new medicines.
With over 40 years of experience and 750 global clinic beds (including 24 in-hospital), Celerion conducts and analyzes First-in-Human, clinical Proof-of-Concept, cardiovascular safety (TQT, robust QT), ADME and NDA-enabling clinical pharmacology studies. Celerion provides expertise on modeling and simulation, study design, medical writing (protocols and reports), clinical data sciences, biostatistics, and PK/PD analysis as well as small and large molecule bioanalytical assays through clinical drug development. Regulatory, drug development and program management complement Celerion’s service offerings. For more information please visit www.celerion.com.
About Queen’s University
Queen’s University Belfast is a member of the Russell Group of 24 leading UK research-intensive universities, providing world-class education underpinned by world-class research. Founded as Queen’s College in 1845, it became a university in its own right in 1908. Today, it is an international centre of research and education rooted at the heart of Northern Ireland. The University has won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education on five occasions – for Northern Ireland’s Comprehensive Cancer Services programme and for world-class achievement in green chemistry, environmental research, palaeoecology and law.
Five prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Awards further recognises the University’s contribution to society. Queen’s received the award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts in 2008, was named the UK’s Entrepreneurial University of the Year in 2009, won the Outstanding Engineering Research Team of the Year category in 2010, received the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year Award in 2011 and was awarded the Outstanding Fundraising Team of the Year title in 2012. With more than 17,000 students and 3,500 staff, it is a dynamic and diverse institution, a magnet for inward investment, a patron of the arts and a global player in areas ranging from cancer studies to sustainability, and from pharmaceuticals to creative writing. For more information please visit http://www.qub.ac.uk/.
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