PRA International Opens Phase I Unit in Budapest

RALEIGH, N.C., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- PRA International, a leading Clinical Research Organization, announces the opening of a Phase I facility in Budapest, Hungary that will provide "unit-on-demand" service and further enhance PRA's capabilities for conducting early-development trials in patients.

Situated in a new state-of-the art hospital, the unit contains 8 beds and is designed for Phase I patient studies. The new Phase I unit is accredited, meets Hungarian requirements, and enhances PRA's ability to provide early-phase services in Hungary.  This opening improves our ability to accommodate increasing demand from our sponsors to conduct Phase I trials in patients earlier and more often.

Like other PRA facilities in Central and Eastern Europe, the Budapest unit will use our innovative unit-on-demand business model that brings a Phase I center to patients. This model establishes a Phase I study environment in central medical facilities that specialize in the treatment of the target patient population. Physicians can recruit high volumes of patients using extensive networks of referring specialists and general practitioners. The studies occur in single-center and multinational settings.

PRA Early Development Services is a diverse, international group helping blue chip pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers in their Phase I development programs. In addition to our five Central and Eastern Europe locations, PRA also has traditional model clinical research units in The Netherlands and United States. PRA conducts more than 300 complex and bioanalytical studies every year, and has an active volunteer pool of 30,000 healthy and special-patient populations.

About PRA International

PRA International conducts clinical trials in more than 75 countries across 6 continents and provides services through all phases of clinical development. PRA performs studies in all therapeutic areas, with specialization in Oncology, Neurosciences, Respiratory/Allergy, Cardiovascular and Infectious Diseases. In the last five years, PRA has supported over 2,100 clinical trials through its 37 global offices.

PRA's therapeutic expertise, global reach and project experience, combined with extensive local knowledge and our differentiating PERSONAL ELEMENT enable our project teams to deliver consistent and on time performance for our clients. This unique PRA philosophy - THE PERSONAL ELEMENT - recognizes that true client service comes only from trained, empowered and dedicated employees who are encouraged to use innovation and their personal commitment to accelerate the development lifecycle.

To learn more about PRA International, please visit www.PRAinternational.com, email [email protected] or call our Global Headquarters at +1 (919) 786-8200.

SOURCE PRA International