A new clinical research unit has been opened on the campus of the Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust, featuring 24-hour medical cover and a sample-handling laboratory.
The clinical pharmacology building - set up by ICON - comes complete with 34 beds over two floors, a local GMP pharmacy and four environmentally-controlled testing suites.
Studies under its roof began in June, with 110 volunteers already having participated within its confines, using translational medicine methodologies.
Group president for early clinical research Alan Morgan said this move is further proof of ICON's commitment to improving the processes for new compounds through early developmental phases into treatments for people.
"The location of the new unit on one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK facilitates unrivalled access to the expertise, specialist procedures and patient populations necessary to bring lifesaving medicines to market faster," he remarked.
This comes after the company signed an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb - as has Parexel - to provide the pharmaceuticals firm with global support for execution of its clinical trials over the next three years.