QPS acquires JSW Life Sciences, Austria’s largest independent CRO

NEWARK, Del.—U.S. leading contract research organization(CRO) QPS Life Sciences has acquired a majority stake in Austrian-based CRO JSWLife Sciences, enhancing QPS's capabilities in preclinical and Phase II-IVdevelopment, with particular emphasis the central nervous system (CNS), thusexpanding its global footprint in central and eastern Europe to take a giantstep toward becoming a major player in the global biotech and pharma market.

QPS has been renamed to QPS JSW, and will be headed by Dr.Jaap Wieling, co-founder and managing director of QPS Netherlands. No financialdetails have been disclosed.

Wieling will work with JSW founder Dr. Manfred Windisch andJSW's existing staff to help build a bright future for the combined QPS JSW.Dr. Manfred Windisch of JSW will become chief scientific officer-Europe forQPS, and will continue to lead as CEO of JSW Clinical Investigations, a jointalliance company with two other CROs.

JSW has developed its reputation over the past 13 years as afull-service, high-quality CRO and the leading specialist in CNS diseases,including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, stroke, depression, psychosisand schizophrenia.

JSW's reputation in the CNS field is further enhanced by itscapabilities in preclinical efficacy studies including in-vitro molecular and cellular analysis, according to acompany press release. JSW is the leading provider of genetically modifiedorganisms for research in CNS diseases and the only company that can combinebehavioral analysis (cognition and motoric function), brain neurochemistry andbiochemistry as well as quantitative histology and histopathology intopreclinical research.

JSW has experience and access to unique biomarkertechnologies, owning, for example, the worldwide exclusive license to theA4-assay for A-beta oligomers from Amorfix.

JSW's clinical operations focus on complete clinicaldevelopment from Phase II-IV (mono- and multicentric trials), including projectplanning, project management, trial monitoring, database management, dataanalysis, medical writing and regulatory affairs. The company's central andeastern European operations assure JSW's customers of large patient populationsin oncology, cardiovascular diseases pulmonary diseases, orphan diseases andmany other indications.

QPS JSW's pharmacology capabilities open up significant newpreclinical areas for QPS' clients, and improve QPS' ability to offerfull-service IND-enabling studies. Furthermore, JSW's proprietary transgenicmodels business enhances QPS' overall scientific portfolio in the CNS area,while JSW's clinical division extends QPS Netherlands' later-stagesite-monitoring capability to most of central and Eastern Europe, as well asproviding additional project management capabilities.

"We are all excited about our new partnership with QPS,because QPS offers the maximum of synergies for JSW in terms of theiractivities in preclinical as well as clinical drug development," says Dr.Manfred Windisch, CEO of JSW Life Sciences. "We expect to significantlystrengthen QPS' research capabilities in the field of neurodegenerativedisorders, which are dramatically increasing with increased life expectancy.Our specific experience combined with the broad range of services alreadyavailable from QPS will expedite new drug development at a very high level. Weare thrilled to be joining such a capable and experienced group."

Integrating JSW with QPS "will afford us more globalexposure and market competitiveness, and also allow us to offer completeservices from preclinical to clinical," Windisch says.

"This strategic expansion in our preclinical serviceofferings and Phase II-IV clinical capability represents our fifth cross-borderacquisition, thereby pushing QPS further up as a high-quality contract researchprovider in the ranks of the global CRO business space," Ben Chien, CEO of QPS,said in a press release. "Clients all over the world will now have access to aneven wider range of the exceptional services they have come to expect from QPS,along with an expanding global footprint. I am pleased and proud of QPS' pastaccomplishments and want to underscore that QPS is well-positioned to achievesuccess and realize its corporate vision of becoming a global leader incontract research."