CRO & clinical tech M&A round-up
Bracket has today announced its first acquisition since launching last month with Patient-Reported Outcome (ePRO) technology company Arrowhead Electronic Healthcare.
In June Bracket spun out from contract research organisation (CRO) UBC to specialise in technology tools to improve how pharmaceutical research and development is conducted.
Bracketsay that Arrowhead, a specialist in hand-held ePRO technology, will be a “natural complement” to their existing eClinical platform.
A spokesperson for Bracket said: “Arrowhead’s ePRO solutions are uniquely engineered to better capture the true patient experience in clinical studies so trial sponsors can focus on making better, faster drug development decisions.
“Their ePRO solutions will be integrated into Bracket’s existing suite of eClinical tools, including IVRS, IWRS, and e-Learning platforms.”
inVentiv Health has completed a take-over of PharmaNet Development Group, Inc.
The new conquest will strengthen Massachusetts company inVentiv’s three-pronged approach as a clinical, commercial and consulting CRO.
PharmaNet, a CRO with extensive experience in global drug development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic drug and medical device industries, will now head the company’s clinical segment.
Jeffrey McMullen, CEO of PharmaNet, said: “PharmaNet employees are excited to join forces with inVentiv. As we think about our expanded capabilities, one thing won’t change: our focus on servicing customers.”
The merger puts inVentiv one step closer to the top, with clinical segment annual revenue of $900m (€640m), and more than 6,000 employees in nearly 40 countries, including growth markets in Asia, Latin America, and central and eastern Europe.
Icon has taken over Irish site performance and study management company Firecrest Clinical.
The global CRO’s new purchase comes only 10 years after Firecrest’s inception.
During that decade Firecrest has established itself as leading providers of a comprehensive site performance management system that has been used by nine of the world’s top 10 pharma companies to improve compliance, consistency and execution of activities at investigative sites.
“Delivering consistent, real-time information to sites and a clear path to follow in the conduct of trials not only boosts the quality of trials, it also drives efficiencies and improves study timelines,” said Peter Gray, CEO at ICON plc.
“We have worked with Firecrest on a number of trials and have seen first hand how their technology improves quality through enhanced protocol compliance and drives efficiencies by reducing data queries and errors at sites.”
