Protocare Trials Implements ``Greenfield Strategy'' With Dedicated Research Site Within Alexian Brothers Chicago Medical Center.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2000

Protocare Trials, the owner and operator of leading clinical research centers nationwide, has launched its Greenfield Initiative. Its first site is a dedicated research center within Alexian Brothers Health System's (ABHS) main Chicago-area campus.

As part of Protocare's Greenfield Initiative, the company will partner with major medical providers and health systems throughout the U.S. to create clinical research centers of excellence. "This strategy offers a complement to our practice of acquiring the best existing research sites nationwide," says Gregg Britt, Vice President of Operations, Protocare Trials. "During the next two years Protocare plans to launch 12 - 15 "Greenfield" sites."

The Alexian Brothers Center for Clinical Research (ABCCR) partners Alexian Brothers Hospital System's hospitals, principal investigators, research experience, and database of over 500,000 patients with Protocare Trials' extensive clinical trials experience and infrastructure, including a thorough quality assurance program, Principal Investigator and coordinator training, regulatory expertise, reliable and valid rating of CNS trials, and timely project management. At this time, exclusive relationships have already been established with two leading practices affiliated with ABHS, Suburban Lung Associates and Cardiovascular Associates, and patients are currently being screened and randomized for more than ten studies.

"This program offers ABHS the opportunity to advance our research capabilities, in concert with the nation's premier private research organization," says Dr. Kaveh Safavi, Vice President, Business and Strategic Development, ABHS. "Protocare's physician-investigators are nationally-recognized thought leaders, and the company's collective research experience and resources set the research industry's standard," says Safavi.

"ABHS is one of our country's most progressive health care providers, and we are pleased to join them in this synergistic venture," says Britt. "By working directly with ABHS' reputable hospitals, health care facilities, physicians, and its direct access to patients, we'll be able to offer sponsors the highest quality clinical trials with unparalleled access to hard-to-recruit patient populations."

ABCCR adds to Protocare Trials' substantial presence in the Chicago area. Protocare Trials owns and operates the Chicago Center for Clinical Research (CCCR) in downtown Chicago, the largest non-academic clinical research site in the U.S. ABCCR and CCCR will function synergistically, with CCCR serving the downtown area and ABCCR serving the northwest Chicago suburbs and ABHS' patients. CCCR has merged its Evanston, IL satellite site into ABCCR.

ABHS is a comprehensive health services delivery system owned and operated by the Alexian Brothers Catholic order. In addition to Alexian Brothers Medical Center, its facilities include the St. Alexius Hospital, Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, an occupational health/rehabilitative medicine center, and several residential and assisted living facilities.

Protocare Trials conducts clinical trials on behalf of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, nutrition and device manufacturers in a wide array of therapeutic areas, including cardiology, nutrition, psychiatry, neurology, pulmonology, endocrinology, musculoskeletal disorders, women's health, and infectious disease. In addition to CCCR, the company owns Georgia Research Associates; Southeast Research Associates; the Nutrition and Metabolism Research Unit; Pharmacology Research Clinic -- Salt Lake City; Las Vegas Center for Clinical Research; Irvine Center for Clinical Research; Pacific Research Network; Phoenix Center for Clinical Research; Mesa Center for Clinical Research, and the San Antonio Center for Clinical Research.

Protocare Trials is a subsidiary of Protocare, Inc., which also owns Protocare Sciences, a consulting firm focused on disease management and analytic services designed to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare.