Wellquest opens facility in Hyderabad

Wellquest, an independent clinical research organisation of pharmaceutical major Nicholas Piramal India Limited, on Sunday opened its clinical research centre in Hyderabad. The company has invested Rs 10 crore in the facility.

The 30,000-sft centre, inaugurated by Nicholas Piramal Group director Swati Piramal, consists of 112 beds, a multi-cuisine kitchen and intensive care units, with facilities to conduct female volunteer studies.

"Initially, the centre will undertake phase I-III clinical trials on NCEs (new chemical entities), BA/BE (bioavailability and bioequivalence) studies for evaluation of generic and novel drug delivery system (NDDS) products besides paediatric clinical trials. We are currently awaiting regulatory approvals for biotechnology products, which we will add to our services at a later stage," she told mediapersons today.

Responding to a query, she said that undertaking toxicological research was not allowed in India and therefore many Indian pharmaceutical companies were moving to other countries.

"We are exploring this opportunity abroad. In fact, the Singapore government has requested us to set up a clinical research centre there. If the government provides the necessary technology and facilities, we would possibly consider their offer," Piramal said.