Sydney-based CRO, Novotech, is trumpeting its success despite the tight economic environment, announcing it attracted $22 million worth of new projects in the year to March.

The company said it had been awarded 23 new multi-centre phase II and III clinical studies across a variety of therapeutic areas including oncology, ophthalmology, central nervous system, cardiovascular, endocrinology and musculoskeletal diseases.

The majority of these studies involved US and European-based technology companies, some of whom are repeat clients of Novotech, and will run between now and 2014, CEO Alek Safarian said. There’s an increasing momentum building behind drug developers looking at the Asia-Pacific region for their R&D programs. Given Australia’s long history of involvement in global clinical trials, the country is ideally placed to be a gateway for expansion of clinical activity in the region as a whole.