Clinipace closes $50m round of financing after massive growth period

16-Jan-2015 - Last updated on 16-Jan-2015 at 08:47 GMT

Clinipace is now looking for new acquisition targets

With a three-year growth rate of 348% and the addition of over 450 jobs from 2012 to 2014, CRO Clinipace is now chasing acquisitions after closing a $50m round of debt and equity financing.

Clinipace says it plans to use the capital to continue building its therapeutic expertise and to further expand its service capacity.

Jeff Williams, CEO of Clinipace, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com, “We will be identifying CROs with desired therapeutic expertise and geography. In addition, we may look at certain types of other service companies to expand our skill set or capacity; for example, a patient recruitment or a safety company.”

A new acquisition would follow the addition of five companies in as many years, which have grown Clinipace’s global footprint, clinical operations, and regulatory and strategic development services throughout North and South America, Asia and Europe.

In March, the company purchased Choice Pharma, a pan-Asian CRO, to extend its footprint in the region and go after more of the mid-market clients in its wheelhouse. In 2012 the company doubled in size following the purchase of Californian CRO Paragon Biomedical.

“With experts located in over 30 countries, Clinipace is the only mid-size CRO with broad geographic capacity, local knowledge and deep therapeutic expertise built on a proprietary eClinical technology,” Williams added.

And when asked if mid-size CROs should worry about innovation or larger CROs pushing them out of work, Williams remained confident, declaring: “It’s the other way around! How do big guys keep up with us? After all, none of them have our growth rate, technology strategy or value proposition for the mid-market. We are doing just fine against them. As for the other mid-market CROs, differentiation matters…and each needs to have a very clear differentiator that is not simply therapeutic, quality or geo-related, since that can be provided by many players.”

The latest round of financing was led by Virgo Investment Group of Redwood Shores, CA and its investor partners. Existing investors, including Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital of San Francisco, Hatteras Venture Partners of Durham, NC, Harbert Venture Partners and Mario Family Funds also participated in this most recent round of funding. Perella Weinberg Partners served as advisors to the company.

“The fundamentals of the CRO industry are currently strong and the company is at an inflection point in its growth, which can be catalyzed by the capital of our investment group,” said Jesse Watson, Founder of Virgo. “What we found in Clinipace is an organization that combines proven operational talent with a disruptor philosophy to drive both consistent execution and growth. We believe the CRO marketplace is ripe for re-imagination. Pharmaceutical clients are demanding new thinking and increased efficiency in their clinical trial operations, which creates an attractive market seam, or window of opportunity.”