MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Clinical Research (DCR), a specialty contract research organization with services spanning a broad spectrum of drug and device development, is celebrating 30 years of accomplishments and milestones in helping shape the future of medicine.

DCR began in 1985 as a pharmacology unit within an academic hospital, conducting drug clearance and pharmacokinetic studies. With a history of renal expertise, DCR has been involved in the development of every end-stage renal disease drug that has received approval from the United States Federal Drug Administration in the last 15 years.

As a part of a large health care provider DCR strives to make a significant impact on patient care. DCR has completed more than 500 clinical trials and produced over 600 publications since 2006.

"Our team is proud to combine our health care experience and knowledge of drug development to provide insights to our partners," said Amy Young, vice president and general manager for DCR. "This expertise is becoming even more important as the landscape of health care continues to evolve."

The company has grown to offer a suite of drug development services including multi-site full service phase I clinics, late phase trial services in the United States and Europe and health economics and data research capabilities.

Expanded capabilities now cover multiple therapeutic areas and include early and late phase clinical trials, health economics and outcomes research, real-world health care data and medical communications services.

Key milestones during the last 30 years include:

1985:

• Established as Hennepin County Drug Evaluation Unit in Minneapolis

1997:

• The Drug Evaluation Unit was acquired by Total Renal Care and became Total Renal Research Inc.

2000:

• Total Renal Care adopted DaVita as its new name and the research unit changed its name to DaVita Clinical Research
• Added late-stage trial capabilities

2005:

• DaVita's acquisition of Gambro doubles research footprint

2007:

• Added health economics, medical communications and real-world evidence services

2010:

• Added early clinical and clinical development recruitment capabilities

2012:

• Became full service and multi-center with the addition of new early clinical research site in Denver and the addition of integrated data management services
• DaVita acquires HealthCare Partners, bringing additional late stage clinical trial health outcomes research and data capabilities

2015:

• Hosted first-ever Investigator Appreciation Day
• Announced European clinical trial capabilities

Examples of conditions DCR studies include diabetes, hypertension, healthy men and women, kidney disease, liver disease and congestive heart failure. DCR's leadership team comprises physicians and operators who offer unique perspectives that come from being a provider-based clinical research organization.

For more information or to learn how to enroll in a study, please visit iSupportResearch.com. To sponsor a study or register as a clinical investigator, visit DaVitaClinicalResearch.com.

DaVita Clinical Research and DCR are registered trademarks of DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc.

About DaVita Clinical Research (DCR)
DaVita Clinical Research (DCR), a wholly owned subsidiary of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA), uses its extensive, applied database and real-world health care experience to assist pharmaceutical and medical device companies in the design, recruitment and completion of retrospective, prospective and pragmatic clinical trials. DCR's scientific and clinical expertise spans the lifecycle of product development with more than 175 client companies. DCR's early clinical research unit (Phase I-IIa) and late phase clinical research (Phase IIb through post-marketing) network of physicians and investigative sites, real-world health care data, health economics and outcomes research, and medical communications are focused on providing world-class research in both complex/specialty populations and therapeutic areas, and especially in CKD and ESRD populations. To learn more about DCR, visit www.davitaclinicalresearch.com.

Media Contact:
Bianca Violante
Office: (303) 876-6614
Mobile: (443) 417-6044
Bianca.Violante@DaVita.com

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SOURCE DaVita Clinical Research