Norwich Clinical Services to expand bed capacity in India

Norwich clinical services, with a investment budget fresh Rs 5 crore investment in the country, is planning to start another 72 bedded healthcare facility; an addition to an already existing one of the same capacity in Bengaluru. It plans to increase the strength of bio analytical machines and LCMS equipment also, within the parameters of this new financial investment.

Presently the Aster CMI in Bangalore houses 72 beds. With the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approval for the new unit in August Norwich is hopeful about starting operations from October this year.

"Expanding in India is now on our radar primarily going by the strong demand for a reliable CRO partner by pharma companies. We see a strong growth for services in pharma. In addition the company also offers short-term certificate courses. The company also provides industry internships where resourceful candidates are absorbed eventually, said Dr S. Thangam companies vigilance and bio-analytical studies. For instance pharma co vigilance alone, we are currently handling more than 800 products for safety monitoring. We are globally filing for safety reports directly with US FDA and the 27 EU countries apart from regulatory authorities in the Asia-Pacific region,” Dr Saral Thangam, CEO Norwich Clinical Services told Pharmabiz

“We are one of the few companies that carry out end-to-end pharma co vigilance services. We have our own call center located both in the US and in India to cover 24 hour safety services. We are leaders in complex areas such as signal detection and risk assessment which are driven by our team of medical and statistical experts. In the coming years, we envisage solid growth prospects from pharma co vigilance. In fact, we have already started pharma co vigilance for bio similar products,” she added.

“Indian drug manufacturers are becoming proactive to ensure total compliance and look for adherence to global practices. They are seeking partnership with CROs that have strong regulatory track record and embedded high quality systems and Norwich is at the forefront of this," said Dr. Thangam adding that in a constantly evolving stringent regulatory environment, pharma-biotech companies see the need to access experts and approach Norwich.

Having been successfully audited by WHO, US FDA and EU. The company was conducting a large scale pool iii study of patient pools both in the US and India . Growth being significant in Bio studies has led to both facility and team expansion.

Modern global guidelines from the USDA and EU and Good Clinical Practice guidelines (GCP) based on Indian norms and adhering to changing environs of the times, call for a high level of expertise. “We would further augment our workforce adding another 45 people to take the total manpower strength to 200,” says the Norwich Chief.“The six-year old company is also scouting for acquisitions either in the US, central and eastern Europe. "We are evaluating prospective companies with skills that complement ours,” she adds.

Norwich ‘s Lotus Clinical Academy provides intense on-the job training. Through its erstwhile Lotus Clinical Academy, it has collaborated with BITS-Ranchi to offer M Pharm in Pharma co vigilance, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs. This has made it easy for the company to access a qualified pool of fresh candidates who include not just pharmacy graduates/postgraduates, but BDS and MBBS..