CRO PharmaNet may sell business

Princeton, NJ-based CRO PharmaNet Development Group said it's talking with a financial advisor to pursue "strategic alternatives," including the possible sale of the company. PharmaNet makes the majority of its money from late-stage trials. However, the company says a number of clients have canceled or delayed their planned Phase III trials, which is cutting into PharmaNet's bottom line. While the company has been building its early-stage research business, that growth hasn't been enough to offset the dip in Phase III trials.

The company's problems have led to a devastating drop in stock price. "It's shares are now trading at less than a dollar ($0.91), a mere fraction of the 52-week high of $43.05 in February, ahead of the presentation of its 2008 results," reports Outsourcing Pharma. The company is facing a share holder lawsuit that claims PharmaNet's management made false claims about the company's business and the market.

PharmaNet claims it's received "several confidential, non-binding written expressions of interest from a number of parties, none of whom are direct competitors."

- see PharmaNet's release [1]
- read the report [2] for more

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