The world’s first full-service evaluation and clinical research organisation will be set up in Jordan, a statement said.

The Philadelphia Biological and Medical Product Development Centre in Jordan will be a major breakthrough for the Middle East medical technology industry, said Peggy Farley, managing director of the general partner.

She said the Amman-based centre will be the only healthcare product development hub worldwide that will provide preclinical evaluation, full-service clinical research, core lab facilities, as well as cell engineering and culturing.

Farley is also co-founder of the Ascent Medical Technology Funds, which is leveraging the financing for the centre.

“The turnkey output promised by the centre will be key to prompting the establishment of business opportunities in the medical technology industry in Middle East,” explained Farley.

“Already, international companies are seeing the possibility of substantial cost savings by transferring their analysis and testing to the Jordan centre.”

The centre is geared to meet all of the requirements of the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the European authorities for preclinical and clinical testing of innovative medical products, she said. 

Farley predicted that the centre will inspire others to focus on much-needed medical product innovation.

“As a gateway to global markets, the centre’s turnkey output and full access to research and development support will spur widespread product development initiatives, which can only be good for healthcare, worldwide.

“We feel that the time is now ripe for the medical industry in the region to achieve recognition from the global marketplace, and Jordan stacks up as the perfect host,” she said.

Farley observed that although the United States is the global leader in innovation in medical technology with 42 per cent share of the world market, Jordan has a unique advantage.

She predicts that lower research and development costs and the promise of potentially higher quality coupled with better regulation than other emerging economies, sets Jordan ahead of the game.

“The centre will work closely with associate centres of excellence that it will help establish in Jordan and other countries in the Middle East, as well as with the University of Jordan, Jordan University for Science and Technology, a number of Jordan’s hospitals and Jordan’s Royal Scientific Society,” Farley concluded.

The Ascent Technology Fund II, the main investor in the Philadelphia Biological and Medical Technology Product Development Centre, was established to bring medical technology development and manufacturing infrastructure to the Middle East, the statement said. – TradeArabia News Service