CRI acquires Lifetree to expand Phase I capabilities
Lifetree operates a 60 bed, 35,000 sq ft clinical trial facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, US. Adding Utah to its existing Phase I sites in New Jersey and Pennsylvania gives CRI more than 120 beds, access to 6m potential trial participants and expertise in psychiatry and neurology.
Human abuse liability, analgesia pain model development, sleep medicine and addiction are areas of expertise at Lifetree. Acquiring Lifetree builds on the psychiatry, paediatrics pain and neurology capabilities at CRI to expand its specialised service offering.
“The combination with CRI is the next step in our growth strategy and fulfils a long-time goal for Lifetree to expand our early phase work, pain and human abuse expertise to include psychiatry and neurology services”, said Alice Jackson, founder and president of Lifetree.
Sleep studies were recently added to capabilities at Lifetree. A private, 116 sq ft room has been equipped with Embla S4500 technology to monitor heart rate, respiratory rate, body position, snoring, pulse rate and other factors. The room is being used solely for conducting sleep studies.
“Lifetree’s cutting-edge research on the effects of using short- and long-acting opioids in treating chronic pain have proven surprising results regarding the effects these medications have on sleep patterns”, Jackson said.
Jackson, along with Lynn Webster, the co-founder of Lifetree, will continue to lead operations in Utah and join the senior management and clinical teams of the combined organisation. Jeffrey Kinell, CEO of CRI, said retention of Jackson and Webster is a “key element of the combination”.
