After a quiet few months since the equity firm Amulet bought out the company, CRO SynteractHCR has made a series of high-profile appointments to “match global growth” and broaden its international footprint.
In a statement, the company said its new hires include Linda Rawlings, who joins as executive director of strategic development; Pascale Goujard-Paquette, becoming senior director of clinical operations in the EU; and Erin Parker, now the senior director of global medical operations.
Rawlings, based in the U.K., has more than 25 years of experience in the CRO, pharma and medical device sectors, while Goujard-Paquette, based in Paris, has 30 years’ experience, having worked at Quintiles and PRA on the CRO side, as well as Servier and Wyeth on the pharma side.
Parker, a 17-year industry veteran, will be based in SynteractHCR’s Research Triangle Park office in North Carolina, and will work in its growing global medical and regulatory affairs team.
“Our goal to expand our leadership team with internationally experienced managers who are experts in guiding clients through clinical trials continues to bring additional brain power to our stellar team,” said Wendel Barr, CEO.
“We are confident that the experts we are adding will continue to help us provide harmonized, high quality service throughout the world.”
The CRO has grown over the year through acquisitions, with one of the biggest coming in 2013 when it acquired Germany’s Harrison Clinical Research--rebranding itself as SynteractHCR and expanding its reach to 16 countries.
Back in May, the U.S. healthcare equity firm Amulet Capital Partners acquired SynteractHCR in what was the investment group’s first M&A. Numbers weren’t given, but Reuters had previously reported that the CRO was looking for a $1.5 billion buyout deal.
The CRO had annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of around $160 million.