Ergomed bolsters post-marketing biz through acquisition
The deal announced this morning will see contract research organisation (CRO) Ergomed add Sound Opinion to its post-marketing business, PrimeVigilance, acquired in July 2014.
Ergomed’s CEO Miroslav Reljanovic described the deal as fitting in with the firm’s strategy to expand its post-marketing services capacity, “a sector we think is critical to the future approval of new medicines and treatments.”
Neil Clark, Chief Financial Officer of the firm told Outsourcing-Pharma that “Ergomed’s medium term strategy is to build out the combined strength in UK medical information services into the main European markets whilst continuing to expand in the UK providing medical information services to Sound Opinion clients.”
Sound Opinion is a virtual business, and thus there are no issues with regards to transfering property or staff, we were told. The current operational staff and management of Sound Opinion will all stay involved with the business after completion.
Post-marketing services
The post-marketing sector is a growing area for CROs, according to Ergomed, and such services help drug companies support their products in the marketplace.
“This can include safety services such as pharmacovigilance and product information services for doctors, patients and pharmacists,” Clark explained.
“In addition there are other late stage clinical trials that are run post–approval and also advice is often taken with regards to strategy on pricing and reimbursement, epidemiology and also regulatory strategies to ensure a drug is correctly positioned in the market.”
However, Ergomed is not the only company operating in this sector: “There is competition from other CROs and service providers,” Clark said. “Pharma companies can also do this all in–house but increasingly they are out sourcing some or all of these services.”
