CRO

Canadian CRO JSS buys its way into India with latest deal

Montreal-headquartered CRO JSS Medical Research is reaching into India, buying out Max Neeman International as it expands around the globe.

Without disclosing financial details, JSS said acquiring Max Neeman gives it a clinical headquarters in New Delhi, plus satellite outposts in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. The two companies have repeatedly worked together in recent years, JSS said, cementing similar corporate cultures and making a merger the next natural step.

For JSS, the deal follows a string of acquisitions designed to extend the CRO's worldwide capacity. And making landfall in India gives the company an important Asian foothold, CEO John Sampalis said.

"For our biotech clients, the expansion will provide them with access to patients and high quality research sites that will facilitate the completion of their clinical development programs," Sampalis said in a statement. "This is an important step for JSS Medical Research in its evolution as a niche global CRO and a major achievement for the Canadian and Quebec healthcare research industry because it is testimony to the fact that the quality and value of the scientific work done here transcends geographic borders and limits."

JSS became the self-proclaimed largest CRO in Canada last year by merging with Quebec's Integrated Research Inc. And in 2013, JSS bought LatAm Clinical Trials, a Colombian-headquartered CRO, to make its way into Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

- read the statement