Joint Lab Venture Targets China

Cordium Links, a provider of centralized cardiac safety monitoring, announced that it has established a joint venture with a Chinese organization to deliver core lab services to drug development companies performing cardiac safety evaluation as part of clinical research in China. The joint venture is called Lawke Links. It aims to bring a full range of ECG core lab services, including project management, site support, and centralized ECG data analysis to China. Lawke Links will provide FDA- and ICH-compliant cardiac safety analysis to biopharm companies conducting Phase I–IV multinational trials.

Lawke Links will donate 9% of the value of work performed on all of its contracts through June 2009 to support the reconstruction and humanitarian efforts associated with the recent earthquake that devastated the country.

In addition to ECG core lab services, Lawke Links has established an exclusive relationship with Peking Union Lawke Biomedical Development Limited (PUL) to provide central lab services. Jian Ho, MD, PhD, chief executive officer and medical director at PUL, will initially head up project management and site support for Lawke Links in China. "It's an honor to bring the resources of one of the leading core labs in the world to China," said Dr. Ho in a press release. "We will be the first and only lab that provides a full range of core lab and central lab services to the growing Chinese market."

China represents one of the world's fastest growing markets for clinical trials. According to the Tufts Center for Drug Development, the market for clinical trials in China has grown 43% in the past three years.

Lawke Links will offer all the advanced services that Cordium Links provides its U.S. customers, including 12-lead digital ECG, Holter monitoring, centralized data management, and QT/QTc analysis and reporting. As an "in country" core lab, Lawke Links hopes to eliminate the difficulty sponsors currently face in sending equipment and locating expertise for trials conducted in China. According to Cordium Links, ECG core labs that currently support trials in China typically send equipment and technical expertise, which adds time and expense. In addition, sponsors often must pay for the use of equipment shipped to China until it is returned.