CROS NT Jumps into Medical Device Space with US Acquisition

11-Sep-2013 - Last updated on 12-Sep-2013 at 08:07 GMT

European CRO CROS NT has acquired US medical device CRO Stat-Tech Services to try to take a slice of the growing medical device trial sector.

The acquisition will diversify CROS NT, which is primarily focused on biostatistics, and expand its geographic offerings into the US.

“We see growth in the device market at the moment driven by venture capital financing of some of these projects of companies we’re talking to,” CROS NT vice president Andrew MacGarvey told Outsourcing-Pharma.com, noting VCs are “more discerning in what projects they’re investing in.”

As healthcare reform in the US also has taken shape, MacGarvey said there’s less uncertainty in the market. Medical device studies are also becoming more standardized in the same way that pharma and biotech studies were, he added.

The medical device CRO space is getting increasingly crowded, especially as Quintiles recently acquired device specialist Novella and Theorem forged a pact with the Emergo Group, a device consulting company.

“The US business will start out with a focus on devices, which is where the team has a strong existing customer base and loyalty,” spokeswoman Mary Elizabeth Wieder told us. “As the team also has extensive experience in the pharma/biotech sector, we expect this area of the business will continue to grow.”

Stat-Tech will likely continue to be based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, “particularly given George DeMuth [president and owner of Stat-Tech] is based there and has an established reputation as a statistical expert in the area of medical devices,” she said.

The NC-based company will continue to trade under the same name but will offer all of the services of the CROS NT Group. “Crucially, this will allow them to offer several technology options for their existing customers,” Wieder said.

“Stat-Tech has the leadership in place that we were looking for and further they operate with the same philosophy as CROS NT in relation to how they look after their people and in terms of their focus on quality systems,” Wieder said.

CROS NT now has offices in the US, Germany and the UK and staff onsite in Denmark and Switzerland.