Headlands Research acquires six trial sites to aid ‘underserved’ populations
The aim with the six clinical trial sites is to increase the numbers of people able to participate in clinical trials, with plans to boost ethnic diversity in clinical trials.
Through the acquisition of the six clinical trial sites, the company aims to allow more people to participate in clinical trials, while at the same time it plans to boost ethnic diversity.
The acquisitions similarly will allow the company to target “traditionally underserved [populations], in terms of ethnicity and geography,” the organization’s CEO, Mark Blumling, stated.
Beyond this, there will be a focus on specialty populations and complex diseases, Blumling added.
This topic will be a focus in Outsourcing-Pharma’s upcoming webinar on special patient populations, live on December 10.*
This concern for clinical researchers is a growing issue, which has led the Pediatric Site Network to launch a pediatric-focused clinical trial network to improve access to medicine for this patient population.
Headlands Research acquisitions included: Centex Studies, which has sites in Houston and McAllen, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana; Clinical Research Atlanta, with facilities in Stockbridge and Griffin, Georgia; and, Okanagan Clinical Trials, which adds a Canadian site, located in Kelowna, British Columbia.
The organization noted that the purchases represent the ‘first step’ in its plans, which include further global acquisitions and building additional clinical trial sites. Financially, it is backed by KKR, a global private equity firm.
Neel Varshney, director at KKR, said, “With its priorities firmly focused on high-quality data, faster study start-up and patient retention – not to mention a diverse and growing roster of clinical sites in the US and Canada – Headlands has the ability to deliver access to diverse and specialty populations that too often go overlooked.”
* The Clinical Trials in Special Patient Populations webinar will be broadcast on December 10, 2019. You are able to register for free through this link.
