29 February, 2024

Center for Translational Research launches CTC Netherlands

Center for Translational Research expands its portfolio of life science service companies through the establishment of CTC Netherlands BV – the CTR group’s first company outside of Sweden.

Sweden-based Center for Translational Research (CTR) has established a new company in Groningen, the Netherlands. CTC Netherlands BV (CTC NL) will operate a clinical research unit that specializes in early phase patient research and healthy volunteer studies that require invasive procedures, and will open its doors in April 2024.

“The strategic importance of this first ‘CTR footprint’ outside Sweden can’t be underestimated,” says Dr Karin Meyer, the CEO of CTR.

“The Netherlands have a strong scientific foundation within translational research and attractive processes for managing early clinical trials. That, combined with the exceptionally senior team of co-founders of CTC NL, will enable the CTR group to offer early clinical development capabilities in an efficient multinational setting to our current and future customers,” she continues.

The founders of CTC NL are CEO Dr. Wim Tamminga, COO Dr. Petra Schuilenga-Hut, and CPO Mariska Beukers-Reuvers, MSc. They bring over 60 years of clinical pharmacology experience into the new company.

The new clinic will be located at the campus of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and will have 12 beds. The proximity to UMCG enables access to the hospital’s specialists and state-of-the-art research facilities, as well as access to trial patients with various indications.

Dr. Petra Schuilenga-Hut says: “Early-phase clinical research often focuses on large studies in healthy volunteers, but increasing efforts are being made to integrate early phase studies in patients. This will accelerate the development of medicines, which is good for the patient, the sponsor, and society at large. However, the distinct organizational and operational requirements of early-phase patient studies, compared to those of healthy volunteer studies, are very complex and challenging for many. Our new specialized clinical research unit with its dedicated team of experts addresses these particular needs effectively, offering comprehensive support for early phase patient studies.”

While the new company is a separate legal entity, CTC NL will function as a part of the site network structure within CTC Clinical Trials Consultants AB (CTC). Headquartered in Uppsala, CTC is a full-service CRO with its own site network consisting of six clinics across Sweden, and is the largest company within the CTR group. CTC NL will operate in close collaboration with the Swedish team.

“With the opening of our first clinic abroad, we are not only marking a historic milestone for CTC but also taking a significant step forward in our ability to conduct early phase multicenter studies on an international scale, to meet customer needs and contribute to world-class research and development in our field,” CTC’s CEO Anders Millerhovf says.

About Center for Translational Research

CTR was founded in 2016 and is the holding company for a group of complementary life science service companies engaged in translational research. CTR is growing and has the ambition to continue to expand the group of qualified companies within development of both pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Today, the CTR companies include CTC Clinical Trial Consultants, Lablytica Life Science, RegSmart Life Science, Toxicology Knowledge Team, Metasafe, RegFile, QAlliance and CTC Netherlands.