Cetero Research reached a financial resolution, after months of ups and downs in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, and is now under the ownership of a group of investors, led by Freeport Financial, according to a statement. In turn, the CRO has been renamed the PRACS Institute and will relocate its headquarters from Cary, NC, to Fargo, ND.
"This is an exciting time for our new company. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we look forward to strengthening our organization and integrating service offerings," said new CEO James Carlson, in a statement. "We will continue to uphold the company's commitment to the delivery of reliable, quality data and on-time study results, as well as the safety of our study participants."
The CRO was embedded in controversy during and leading up to filing for bankruptcy protection in March. Months before the filing, the FDA accused it of falsifying data from studies conducted at its Houston lab. The two entities reached an agreement in April after Cetero reviewed and resolved more than 1,000 unconfirmed studies, but some drug trial sponsors needed to repeat or reanalyze work as a result. Bankruptcy protection proceedings have also been dicey, as unsecured creditors called the bidding process "seriously flawed," while at least three biotech companies filed objections arguing that the CRO should pay up for substandard clinical work.
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