Avance Clinical to Showcase its Early Phase Center of Excellence Model at AusBiotech International 2026

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ADELAIDE, Australia, Oct. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Avance Clinical, the Australian-headquartered global contract research organization (CRO) specializing in early phase and First-in-Human trials for biotechs across North America, Asia Pacific, China and Europe, will exhibit at Stand #72 at the AusBiotech International Conference 2026. The conference runs 21–23 October 2026 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Queensland, as part of Australia’s Biggest Week in Biotech (19–23 October).

AusBiotech International is one of the largest biotechnology gatherings in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2025 it drew participants from more than 23 countries. Avance Clinical says this international reach signals Australia’s growing role as a strategic node in how global biotechs sequence their development pathway.

For more than 30 years, Avance Clinical has led early phase trial delivery in Australia and New Zealand. The company has partnered with more than 750 emerging biotech companies across more than 250 indications. Over that time, the questions sponsors ask have changed markedly. Offshore biotechs continue to prioritise access: healthy volunteer availability, ethics committee approval and cost efficiency. Additionally, sponsors ask more sophisticated questions: not simply how quickly a trial can start, but how quickly can I receive topline data and how much execution risk can be removed across the full Phase I-to-Phase II arc.

What is Avance Clinical’s Early Phase Center of Excellence?

Avance Clinical’s Early Phase Center of Excellence is an integrated operating model for early phase clinical trials. Avance Clinical built it in response to this change in what sponsors prioritise, as an operating model rather than a marketing label.

The Center of Excellence is delivered through Avance Clinical’s globally integrated footprint across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan and India.

“Too often, early phase delivery is split across silos, with sponsors absorbing the coordination risk between teams that don’t share accountability. Our Center of Excellence is a deliberate rejection of that fragmented model, which still characterises much of the sector, particularly among larger CROs, where scale often comes at the cost of continuity,” said Liahna Toy, Senior Vice President & Head of the Early Phase Center of Excellence at Avance Clinical.

For venture-backed biotechs, the commercial benefit of an integrated early phase model is what matters most. A shorter cycle time is not an operational nicety. It extends cash runway, brings the data readout ahead of the next financing round and strengthens the biotech’s negotiating position with investors.

“Structural integration is what compresses that timeline. Regulatory speed on its own doesn’t achieve it if the underlying delivery model is fragmented. Ask any prospective partner who owns the outcome when design, delivery and regulatory strategy inevitably need to move in lockstep — the answer tells you more than any capability deck will,” said Toy.

Avance Clinical CEO Mark Harvill added, “Biotechs today are under sustained pressure to conserve capital while still generating decision-grade data fast enough to support the next raise or partnering discussion. That is the conversation we want to have at AusBiotech: not just how fast a trial can start, but how a genuinely global, integrated model spanning Australia, Asia Pacific, North America and Europe can take real execution risk off the table for sponsors, wherever they are headquartered.”

New appointment: Director of Operational Strategy, Early Phase

Avance Clinical has also appointed Cameron White to the newly created role of Director of Operational Strategy, Early Phase Center of Excellence. White was previously Project Director II at Avance Clinical, where he led the delivery of early phase programs for international biotech sponsors. In his new role, he will shape how the Center of Excellence plans, strategizes and delivers early phase programs across Avance Clinical’s global footprint.

Meet Avance Clinical at AusBiotech 2026

Sponsors evaluating their early phase strategy can meet the Avance Clinical team at Stand #72. To schedule a meeting, visit www.avancecro.com/book-a-meeting.

About Avance Clinical

Avance Clinical is the largest premium full-service Australian headquartered CRO delivering high-quality clinical trials in Australia, New Zealand, Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe for biotechs. With more than 30 years of experience and expertise across 250+ indications, Avance Clinical supports programs from pre-clinical consulting to later-phase trials, backed by deep regulatory, clinical and operational capability. The company has partnered with more than 750 emerging biotech companies and received multiple Frost & Sullivan CRO Market Leadership and Customer Value Leadership awards, including recognition as 2026 Global Biotechnology CRO Company of the Year.

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