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Why New Zealand is a safe harbour for clinical trials in this COVID-affected world
The world is experiencing unprecedented times – and it’s those holding a strategic advantage can move forward faster. New Zealand is emerging from COVID-19 ahead of most other countries. It has virtually no1 COVID-19 and the economy is open. We are leaders in one the of most rapidly growing clinical regions, Asia Pacific.
New Zealand has one the fastest, most straightforward regulatory and streamlined online ethical review systems in the world. Optimal Clinical Trials continues to strengthen our global place setting: providing expertise and solutions for pharmaceutical companies and CROs wishing to facilitate high-quality and ethically sound studies.
Optimal results are achieved when you optimise the input – a diverse patient population database, quality of workforce, and a high standard of medical care and living – we have the world at our fingertips.
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Here’s what to expect when you work with us . . .
Ease of business:
Life as we know it in New Zealand is near normal – and Kiwis are breathing a sigh of relief that we fared well amidst COVID-19 chaos. With our stringent community and border controls, there are now only 22 active cases1 across the whole country - all of which are safely tucked away in managed quarantine facilities – putting New Zealand in a unique position in the global clinical trials landscape. Every pharma and biotech company should be looking at running their trials here now.
Fast lane:
Here in New Zealand we have a straightforward regulatory and ethics process, and a standardised contract agreement – reducing start up time. We’re host to a multiregional ethics committee – so only one ethics submission is required. One of the best parts? Our regulatory authority (Medsafe) averages 14 days – as compared to three months in the US.
Renowned quality:
On the world stage, reputation is everything. And, ours is definitely up with the play. We’re fortunate to have a well-trained, enthusiastic and high-quality of workforce, and team of experienced Principal Investigators to call upon.
Seasonal focus:
We recognise the importance of enhancing recruitment in therapeutic areas as dictated by seasonal conditions. So, we continue recruitment when the other half holidays – i.e. when the Northern Hemisphere is vacationing, we work through.
Close call:
We are the closest time zone to the US West Coast, which enables us to share a large part of the working day with our clients in the US. This affords us greater communications and facilitation of study management. Win-win all round.
Lower cost:
New Zealand is 36-39% cheaper than the US according to a Medicines Australia report (notation: Medicines Australia 2014: Clinical Trial metrics: benchmarking Australia’s performance)
1 Source: https://www.health.govt.nz/ as at 29/06/20:
- 22 active COVID-19 cases within New Zealand
- All patients are in managed quarantine facilities.
- All patients were picked up coming from overseas flights, and were diagnosed through stringent border control testing
- There are no known cases coming from the general community