Raleigh CRO Trio changes name, strategy as part of Aptiv Solutions

The North Carolina CRO that launched as Trio Clinical Research is moving forward with a new name and a different strategy.

Trio has changed its official name to Trio Clinical Resourcing, a change that reflects the Raleigh, North Carolina CRO’s focus on providing recruiting and staffing services to biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Trio now operates as a subsidiary of Aptiv Solutions, a Great Falls, Virginia company launched in February by the merger of six companies, including Trio, each one reflecting some facet of the industry serving biopharmaceutical and medical device development. The other companies forming Aptiv are Averion International, Fulcrum Pharma, ClinResearch, Niphix and ADDPLAN. Trio remains based in Raleigh.

Aptiv is led by Chairman and CEO Patrick Donnelly, the former CEO of PRA International, a CRO now also based in Raleigh. Donnelly had been a member of Trio’s board of directors since 2008.

Pharma industry staffing was Trio’s focus at its start and the company primarily supplied contract workers for clinical trials. But not so long ago, the company had aspirations of growing into a full-service CRO on its own. Trio was co-founded in 2002 by Faye Woolf and Betsy Brown to provide contract workers to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The services were offered to companies working in a variety of therapeutic areas and in all phases of clinical research. In 2008, a management-led recapitalization of Trio in concert with private equity firm The Halifax Group and venture capital firm SV Life Sciences committed millions for acquisitions that could grow Trio into a full-service CRO that staffed trials and managed them as well.

Last summer, Halifax and SV Life Science launched a series of acquisitions to “create an innovative global player in biopharmaceutical development services.” The companies acquired were ClinResearch and ADDPLAN, firms that provide adaptive trial services and software. The group also acquired Fulcrum Pharma, a United Kingdom-based company that provides comprehensive drug development, regulatory and safety services.

In late December, Halifax completed a $350 million fundraiser, according to securities filings. In February, Trio was merged with the three recently acquired companies and two others — Niphix and Averion International — which formed new company Aptiv Solutions.

Now as part of Aptiv, Trio returns to its staffing roots. The clinical trials management services that Trio had offered are now available through parent company Aptiv. Brown remains with the company and serves as president of Trio Clinical Resourcing.

“Trio has evolved to provide our clients with ideal resourcing partnerships for clinical research projects; therefore, the name Trio Clinical Resourcing is an acknowledgement of this positive transition,” Brown said in a prepared statement.