New venture Biovu is gathering pace with the announcement that it has secured the services of Nigel Amphlett as business development manager
Biovu will work directly with hospitals and consultants to provide patient-based imaging studies.
Nigel Amphlett will have primary responsibility for developing and implementing a global sales and marketing strategy for Biovu's unique combination of services and facilities.
He will focus on creating and developing opportunities in targeted therapies including oncology, respiratory disease and gastroenterology.
He brings more than 20 years experience to the company.
He began his career by specialising in haematology and blood transfusion, and followed this with positions as a senior scientist with SmithKline Beecham and as a business development manager in two clinical research organisations.
He joins Biovu from specialist biotechnology company Oxagen.
Biovu will utilise gamma scintigraphic imaging technology to help assess product effectiveness.
Access to 'state of the art' imaging equipment dedicated to conducting clinical research studies will considerably speed up the rate at which clinical trials on targeted therapeutics and radiopharmaceuticals in patients can be conducted.
Amphlett believes the blueprint being offered by Biovu could be a key to future drug development as the whole industry changes, explaining: "The real challenge as with most things innovative is to educate the industry of the benefits of this type of procedure." "The current difficult global economic climate has affected the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and has genuinely emphasised the need to drive down the costs and the risks associated with drug development.
These are two key benefits offered by the Biovu service." "Despite increases in the overall expenditure in research and development in recent years, it remains true that an unacceptably high number of drugs fail in late stage clinical trials after millions of dollars have already been invested - as evidenced by recent headlines from the industry." Amphlett added: "In many cases the information obtained from early stage clinical trials with regard to safety and efficacy is not sufficient to support the critical go/no-go decisions that precede enormous investment in large scale clinical trials in the later stages of development." "I think that the effective evaluation of drug disposition in a small number of patients in order to provide valuable data before committing millions to large phase IIb and III clinical trials is an important contributor to the future success for the industry." With a wealth of experience in respiratory and GI diseases, Biovu will now lead the way ahead for the evaluation of targeted therapies and is uniquely positioned to provide the pharmaceutical industry with the data it needs for success.
