Contract research organizations (CROs) Caidya and Simbec-Orion have united to create a new platform aimed at helping drug development programs accelerate and scale.
Operating under the Caidya name, the combined company aims to bring together complementary strengths and operations across Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and China, according to a release.
North Carolina-based Caidya is a global CRO with locations in more than 30 countries across three continents. The firm launched in 2022 when dMed-Clinipace rebranded, and the company received a $165 million investment from Rubicon Founders last year.
London-based Simbec-Orion specializes in early-phase development in clinical pharmacology, oncology and rare diseases, and has five decades of experience working with biopharma companies in Europe. In 2019, Simbec-Orion was acquired by U.K.-based private equity firm CBPE Capital for an undisclosed price.
“By combining Simbec-Orion’s European presence and early-phase expertise with Caidya’s global platform, we can support sponsors from First-in-Human through registration while helping them thrive where development becomes most difficult: at the intersection of scientific innovation, operational complexity, and global clinical execution,” Caidya CEO Barbara Lopez Kunz, who will run the combined company, said in the release.
Simbec-Orion CEO Fabrice Chartier will continue to lead Simbec-Orion’s operations as part of the combined company. He said the deal will give Simbec-Orion’s platform greater access to the U.S. and Asian markets while expanding Caidya’s presence in Europe and in phase 1 trials.
“Our combined organization creates a CRO that combines the intimacy of a specialist partner with the reach of a global development organization to meet the needs of modern drug development,” he said in the release.