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| Clinipace CEO Jeff Williams |
Serial acquirer Clinipace has bought up European CRO Accovion, striking its 6th deal in as many years as it seeks to expand its global reach.
The German-headquartered Accovion has been running clinical trials around Europe for more than 10 years, maintaining 8 international subsidiaries and doing business in 20 countries. And Clinipace, which recently bought its way into Asia, believes bringing Accovion into the fold will broaden its reach and help it compete in the increasingly global CRO business.
"To be competitive in today's market, it is important to have, among other things, a strong multi-national scale, broad therapeutic expertise and a better service delivery model," CEO Jeff Williams said in a statement. "Bringing our companies together substantially enhances our existing European footprint throughout western, central and eastern Europe and enables us to offer a competitive array of global clinical development and regulatory services in these regions."
Clinipace isn't disclosing how much it paid for Accovion, but the company raised $50 million in debt earlier this year, money it earmarked for future buyouts.
Clinipace's last acquisition, the 2014 buyout of Hong Kong CRO Choice Pharma, came on the heels of deals for Paragon Biomedical, PFC Pharma, Regulus Pharmaceutical and Worldwide Clinical Research. With all of its new businesses now fully integrated, the company employs roughly 1,000 people in 39 countries, Clinipace said.
The CRO has made its name serving midsized biotech and medical device companies, touting its end-to-end eClinical platform as an efficient, cost-effective method for managing data and running trials in a wealth of therapeutic areas.
Clinipace, which is privately held, says it has boosted its revenue by nearly 350% over the past three years, managing more than 1,500 clinical trials since its foundation.
- read the announcement