CRO

Quintiles paid $146.5M for Novella

Quintiles ($Q) declined to divulge financials when it signed up to buy Novella Clinical in August, but a regulatory filing reveals that the world's largest CRO spent $146.5 million upfront for the contractor, with more money on the line tied to milestones.

The Novella deal is worth up to $167.5 million over three years, with $21 million contingent on "the achievement of certain revenue and net new business targets," Quintiles said in the filing.

Through the deal, Quintiles gets Novella's 800 employees and its client roster of small to mid-size drug developers, medical device outfits and diagnostics companies. The CRO has made its name providing bespoke services to emerging companies, and CEO Richard Staub has said joining the ranks of Quintiles will give it global scale without changing its identity.

In keeping with that commitment, Novella last month teamed up with 2013 FierceBiotech Fierce 15 member Scioderm to handle Phase IIb trials of its treatment for epidermolysis bullosa, an often fatal disease that leaves children with extremely fragile skin that easily tears and blisters.

For Quintiles, the Novella deal is expected to have little effect on 2013 profits, and the CRO is expecting between 3.8% and 5.2% annual revenue growth, good for up to $3.8 billion for the year.

- read the filing