Meet our partners: Clinical Trial Consultants

2021-10-18

Clinical Trial Consultants AB (CTC) is a Swedish full-service and contract research organisation with clinical conduct in focus. The company facilitates clinical and translational research by providing cost-effective advice, planning, clinical execution, analysis and reports of early clinical trials.

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Since launching in Uppsala in 2011, CTC has performed more than 380 clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies and other contract research organisations. The company currently comprises of more than 100 employees and three dedicated research clinics, one of which is located at Uppsala University Hospital, specialising in first-in-human studies.

We teamed up with with Bengt Dahlström, co-founder, board member and Senior Scientific Advisor at CTC, and asked him why CTC prioritises engaging in a national competence center with a focus on drug delivery?

(Image removed) Bengt Dahlström, Senior Scientific Advisor, CTC

“In Sweden, several important investments in Life Science are in the works. However, an interesting molecule within medicinal chemistry becomes really interesting only when we are able to deliver it to the right place in the body. Both CTC and myself has participated from the start in SDDF, which in 2020 turned into SweDeliver, and today, we make significant contributions to this infrastructure that enables a viable, national ecosystem for research and development in our field of science.”

Based on your 40 years of experience from Swedish drug development, why was a national center in drug delivery not formed earlier?

“To understand this we have to look at the changes in Sweden's pharmaceutical industrial landscape. A few decades ago, the map was dominated by a few large companies that possessed the resources to conduct their own research all the way to approved drugs. Today, these have basically been replaced by a great number of small and medium-sized companies. So if we are to utilise all new creativity and knowledge, we simply have to work together.”

How well does the collaboration within the SweDeliver partnership live up to your original expectations?

“Very well! SweDeliver has gathered an impressive breadth of expertise and experience in academia, industry and healthcare, three different environments that, despite partly different values, have formed a welcoming and generous forum where we openly exchange ideas and knowledge.”

What does the knowledge exchange within SweDeliver generate for CTC?

“Having direct channels to researchers, several of whom operate at the absolute front, for issues that can cover the entire process from basic research to clinical observations is a unique asset for everyone in the SweDeliver network, not least for our company that focuses on translational research. At the same time, our commitment to the center is a long-term investment with the aim of maintaining and developing our infrastructure for research and development in the fields of life science.”

How essential is the need for pharmaceutical knowledge at CTC and how do you work to meet it?

“Our operations span several different competencies, and many employees at CTC have a background in pharmacy. To help ensure that we and other life science-companies have continued access to a highly qualified infrastructure with skilled and experienced labor, we are working close with Uppsala University's Faculty of Pharmacy as well as pharmaceutical and medtech companies and healthcare. Some current examples are our role in the course Clinical Trial Methodology where we participate in planning and provide lectures on virtual elements in clinical trials, and SweDeliver trainee Sjoerd Koopman who recently worked with us for six weeks.”

Where do you hope that CTC and SweDeliver will be in the summer of 2024?

“We hope that SweDeliver projects will have developed well and reached the stage where we can plan for the first clinical studies on healthy volunteers and patients. I also hope that we can integrate the needs of healthcare and patients into development work at an earlier stage. More generally, I wish for SweDeliver to provide our field a stronger voice that more clearly emphasises the importance of drug delivery for Swedish healthcare and industry.”

Facts Clinical Trial Consultants AB

Is one of five subsidiaries in the Center for Translational Research Sweden AB (CTR).
Has been named Gazelle Company (Gasellföretag) by Dagens Industri for 5 years in a row.

More information

Contact

(Image removed) Bengt Dahlström, Senior Scientific Advisor
CTC Clinical Trial Consultants AB
Bengt.Dahlstrom@ctc-ab.se

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: CTC