P3 Research is an independent clinical trial company that provides phase 2 and phase 3 trials.
"We are excited to be in Dunedin and we expect the centre to be busy," P3 managing director Prof Richard Stubbs said.
Prof Stubbs is a former president of the New Zealand Association of Clinical Research.
Dunedin is P3 Research’s first site in the South Island.
It will be located at unit 2/401 Moray Pl.
Clinical research involving pharmaceutical products or devices is classified by phases.
These are generally defined between phase 1 and phase 4.
Phase 1 tests dosage safety in humans, phase 2 studies effectiveness for patients, phase 3 refines dosing and profiles side-effects, and phase 4 is post-marketing studies.
The site will be officially opened on February 9, but it has already started trials at the site.
It has five research staff and two part-time doctors, and will add more people as it rolls out more trials.
The company does contract trials for leading pharma and biotech companies such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and Novartis.
With the new Dunedin site, P3 now has seven sites, the others located in Wellington, Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Kapiti, Palmerston North and Lower Hutt.
Prof Stubbs said the company was getting good responses from volunteers in Dunedin.
It advertised for volunteer participation for its first trial and received responses from about 100 people.
"Unlike phase 1 trials, the volunteers were not paid for their participation in the trials.
"We would pay a small amount for travel and other expenses."
The volunteers who were participating in the trials were monitored for six months.
About 17 volunteers in Dunedin were participating in a trial to develop a Novavax vaccine, which started this month.
P3 Research also had plans to start trials for the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand for asthma in children, Prof Stubbs said.
It was planning to start trials next month for a pneumococcal vaccine for MSD, which required 12-15 volunteers to participate.
Forty volunteers were needed for a norovirus trial, which would be conducted for a leading North American biotech company.
The high-quality research staff and healthcare professionals were important for the growth of the sector in New Zealand.
A report released by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research in May 2020 showed clinical research made significant direct and indirect contributions through the development of modern medicines in New Zealand.
"The total economic contribution of clinical trials of new medicines exceeded $150million per year in the period 2013 to 2018."
The mean direct contribution to GDP over the period 2013 to 2018 was $146.3million.
"Handling of Covid-19 brought the country to the forefront of clinical trials," Prof Stubbs said.
The company had received private equity investment from Sydney based Genesis Capital.
It had plans to enter the phase 1 research in a year at its Wellington site.
