SGS has signed a partnership agreement with the Medical Center of Defense Forces Hospital in Budapest, Hungary to operate a dedicated clinical pharmacology unit for conducting Phase I inpatient clinical trials within the hospital’s oncology facility. The Budapest unit is the latest addition to SGS’s embedded hospital clinical pharmacology network, complementing existing units in Antwerp and Mechelen, Belgium and strengthens SGS’s early phase inpatient capabilities and therapeutic area reach.

The new patient unit will have five hospitalization beds and will occupy a separate, secured wing in close proximity to the intensive care unit. In addition to the five beds, the unit is equipped with an examination room, a sample preparation area, a sample storage area/locker, and restrooms suitable for multi-day stays.

Early phase trials will be undertaken by a permanent, dedicated on-site SGS team, working in close collaboration with hospital physicians, trial experts and investigators, to ensure solid patient recruitment capacity, rapid subject enrollment with high quality data collection and on-time study delivery.

The Medical Center of Defense Forces undertakes both military and public healthcare with 1,800 beds and access to 2 million residents. The hospital has been conducting clinical trials for over 15 years. Among its numerous therapeutic areas of expertise, cancer is the most significant. Approximately 40 clinical trials, spanning Phase I to Phase III oncology studies, have been conducted at the center over the last 4 years, covering indications such as soft tissue and bone tumors, and gastrointestinal tumors. The oncology department has 44 beds and 24 chairs for day care treatments in total, treating more than 1,200 new solid tumor cases every year,

“This Phase I patient unit will have constant and reliable access to most of the patient populations treated in the institution, which consists of several specialized campuses,” said Istvan Udvaros, medical and oncology project director, SGS. “We have extensive knowledge and expertise in oncology, having undertaken over 150 trials for oncology drug development projects, covering a broad range of cancer tumor types. This association will add to that knowledge and enable us to further cater to the specific needs and complexities of oncology clinical trial programs.”

Jean Luc Marsat, clinical research managing director, said, “This new Phase I unit plays a crucial role in the early phase studies conducted by our clinical research personnel and clinical project managers. As part of the SGS Life Sciences clinical network, this unit can operate as a single unit or as part of a multisite approach, depending on the needs of the study, and fits with our global strategy to establish SGS as the leader in early phase clinical trials in Europe.”