New clinical trial firm formed following 3-company merger
CNS Network and the Hassman Research Institute (HRI) recently completed a strategic merger to form Apex Innovative Sciences (Apex), which in turn acquired the Clinical Trial Centers Alliance (The Alliance).
James Castro, managing director of FocalPoint Partners (FPP), said the investment bank approached each business owner with the consolidation strategy. Speaking to the deal rationale, Castro told us CA-based CNS Networks provides Phase II and III inpatient clinical trial services, with expertise in clinical neuroscience indications, such as schizophrenia.
Said Castro, “Phase II and III inpatient studies for these complex clinical neuroscience studies involves an acute subject population which not many sites can manage well. CNS can fill studies with subjects quickly given its proprietary database of over 150,000 potential study candidates.”
Supplementing these services, Castro said the Hassman Research Institute is ‘largely recognized’ for its early phase work and has broader experience in various indications, including addiction, general medicine, dermatology, clinical neuroscience, among others.
The third of the recently merged companies, the Clinical Trials Centers Alliance (The Alliance), has “an expansive base of relationships with pharma and biotech sponsors,” added Castro.
“The company identifies new studies and ‘pitches’ its third-party network of sites to provide site-level clinical research services. The Alliance often combines CNS’s and HRI’s complementary services to win new, large, national studies,” he said.
The combined entity will operate under the Apex Innovative Sciences name and is currently centralizing The Alliance’s database across all the organizations. Over the next several months, the new company also will look to acquire additional sites, said Castro.
“Apex Innovative Sciences will look to separately accelerate the growth of its Acute Psychiatric Hospital,” he added. “Behavioral health companies have already demonstrated interest in separately purchasing the APH from Apex.”
Dr. Howard Hassman, Apex CEO said in a statement: “This combination is the culmination of years of collaboration between our organizations in complex clinical trial studies.”
Bison Capital Partners also participated with an equity investment to help expand Apex’s behavioral health treatment facility programs.
