ASKA Research and Clinical Development Solutions Enter Into Strategic Partnership Agreement to Enhance Canadian Clinical Trial Infrastructure

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwire - April 23, 2009) - ASKA Research, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) headquartered in Vancouver, Canada and Clinical Development Solutions (CDS), a CRO headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada, announce today the signing of a mutual strategic partnership that will enhance the service available to their clients.

The partnership between the two growing CROs complements and adds to the clinical trial management, data management and strategic consulting services offered by both companies. The standing agreement sets forth the terms and conditions by which each of the parties will provide services to one another and will provide clients with broader access to the expertise required to reduce their time-to-market and product development costs.

"We look forward to a very fruitful relationship with ASKA and I strongly believe that by leveraging one another's strengths and well developed networks we can further boost the cost-effective and vigilant services offered by ASKA and CDS", stated Jan-Ake Westin, Vice-President, Clinical Development for CDS.

Val Willetts, Founder and CEO of ASKA, added, "By matching CDS' entrepreneurial approach and focused network with ASKA's expertise and our network of more than two hundred fifty clinical research professionals - a unique organization in Canada offering a full scope of clinical research expertise and services - we are able to bolster our leading services to pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies without increasing the size of our internal teams or facilities. Our competitive advantage is to maximize cost and resource efficiencies that we can pass on to our clients."

ASKA will be highlighting the agreement, their broad-based expertise and experience in the area of clinical trials and their complete portfolio of services which includes education, training and consulting at the upcoming Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, April 24-28.

CDS is planning to promote its cost-effective, entrepreneurial approach to contract clinical research through its presence at the Bio International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia from May 18-21 connected with the Province of Manitoba Pavilion.

About ASKA Research

ASKA Research, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, is one of the few privately held CRO's based in Canada. ASKA provides quality management, education/training, and functionally outsourced clinical trial management services across Canada and the United States. Through a network of more than 250 regionally located clinical research professionals, ASKA has developed an outstanding network of qualified and experienced management and monitoring professionals throughout Canada and in the USA, providing an optimal cost effective model for managing clinical trials in North America and worldwide. ASKA has established global reach through strategic partnership alliances with CROs in Europe, Japan and Pan-Asia. Further information about ASKA Research clinical research services may be found at www.askaresearch.com.

About Clinical Development Solutions

The CDS group is committed to excellence in clinical development services with particular experience in the cardiovascular and metabolic disease areas. The group's flexibility and active participation in the critical stages of the clinical development process makes it an ideal partner for small and midsized life science companies, and academic or public health institutions carrying out their own clinical trials. Further information on CDS' clinical project management, clinical trial monitoring, clinical trial and drug safety evaluation, clinical site document management, regulatory affairs and clinical quality assurance and data management services can be found at www.genesysventure.com/cds.htm.