CRO Clinipace raises $8M; M&A announcement expected

Clinical research organization Clinipace Worldwide has raised more than $8 million in financing and the […]

Clinical research organization Clinipace Worldwide has raised more than $8 million in financing and the company is preparing for an announcement about the funding.

A  spokeswoman for Morrisville, North Carolina-based Clinipace said the company is not commenting on the financing until a planned announcement next Wednesday. But the announcement is expected to be an acquisition. At the CED Biotech Life Science Conference in February, Clinipace said it was planning to close a European acquisition at the end of the first quarter that will add another 60 people in Europe.

A May 9 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that Clinipace has raised $3.3 million in debt financing from a sale that began on May 5. In the filing, Clinipace indicates that the financing is connected to a merger or acquisition. Clinipace’s most recent acquisition was the March purchase of Regulus Pharmaceutical Consulting, a Colorado firm. Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed.

A separate May 10 securities filing shows the company has raised $4.8 million out of a targeted $5 million, with the first sale occurring on April 11. That filing does not indicate what the financing is for. Both filings name the company’s board members, including Christy Shaffer of Hatteras Venture Partners, Jeremy Mario of private equity firm Mario Family Partners and Rick Widin, vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel for Raleigh consulting firm Campbell Alliance.

Clinipace was founded by CEO Jeff Williams in 2003 as a “digital CRO” that offered clinical trial services through its proprietary software. In contrast to traditional CROs that are heavy on staff, Williams has pitched Clinipace’s software as a partnership of technology with appropriate CRO staffing levels to offer pharmaceutical companies a more efficient and less expensive service.

The company grew through acquisition with the 2009 purchase of Kansas CRO Worldwide Clinical Research. That deal gave Clinipace a presence in South America and expertise in oncology. Clinipace generated $5.1 million in 2009 revenue, with three-year growth of 614 percent — enough for a No. 485 ranking on Inc. magazines’s list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies. That growth has continued. In January, Clinipace said 2010 was the company’s best year to date with more than 800 percent revenue growth since 2008 and revenue in 2010 that doubled the company’s 2009 figures. The company is profitable and projects that 2011 revenue will top $20 million.

The announcement of the Regulus acquisition in March came as a number of CROs turned to buy consultancies to bolster their offerings to pharmaceutical clients. If next Wednesday’s announcement is the European acquisition, it appears Clinipace has added another arrow to its quiver while also expanding its geographic reach.

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