Latest news

Pfizer Locates $14m Regional Biometrics Centre in Sydney

Thursday October 9, 2003

The country's leading healthcare company, Pfizer Australia, is investing $14m in an Australian Biometrics Centre to design and manage clinical trials around the world.

NSW Minister for Science and Medical Research, the Hon Frank Sartor MP, opened the facility at Pfizer Australia's West Ryde, Sydney, plant today.

Biometrics is the foundation of drug development and involves study design, data management and statistical data analysis.

The Biometrics Centre has completed its implementation phase and is now fully operational in Sydney. It is managing 20 clinical research studies, and this will grow to 50 over the next two years.

Employing 30 of Australia's brightest and best biostatisticians, programmers and data managers, the centre has been located in Sydney over Singapore and India after a rigorous selection process.

Centre Director Dr Ian Marschner said 80 percent of its work will be for overseas markets, creating the potential for export income and a reversal of the "brain drain" causing highly-qualified researchers to leave Australia and work offshore.

The centre is providing services for clinical research undertaken by Pfizer in Australia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

"The centre will add value to the growing number of clinical research studies undertaken by Pfizer Australia," Dr Marschner said.

"We're investing $26m in clinical trials during 2003, on top of the $11m we're spending locally on early stage R & D collaborations."

Dr Marschner said the decision to locate in Australia takes advantage of the high quality research skills and infrastructure available in this country.

Pfizer's Regional Managing Director, Alan Taylor, said the drug development process is becoming increasingly global.

"Australia's capacity to contribute depends on its ability to attract scientific resources and offer expertise in pharmaceutical research and development," Mr Taylor said.

"Pfizer's decision to build the Biometrics Centre in Australia creates a new hub of excellence in the development of innovative treatments. This means that Pfizer Australia will now be involved in every aspect of clinical trial research."

Pfizer is already involved in the Biostatistics Collaboration of Australia (BCA), coordinated out of the University of Sydney, and through it is providing an annual scholarship to outstanding students for post graduate training in biostatistics.

Pfizer Australia is the nation's leading research-based health care company. It discovers, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical treatments for both humans and animals.