CRO Inclinix merges with clinical trials site operator PMG Research

June 4, 2012 5:15 pm by Frank Vinluan | 0 Comments

Clinical research organization Inclinix is merging with PMG Research in the latest merger and acquisition deal to hit the CRO space.

Inclinix provides clinical trial recruitment services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. PMG Research operates a network of clinical research sites to run clinical trials in the Southeast United States. The merger was led by Frontier Capital, a private equity firm that is a financial backer of Wilmington, North Carolina-based Inclinix. No financial details of the deal were disclosed.

J. Tobin Geatz, CEO of Inclinix, will be president and CEO of the combined company now called Inclinix-PMG Holdings. For the time being, the company will operate as two divisions. The combined company now has more than 120 principal investigators and 80 study coordinators and more than 75 global clinical enrollment managers worldwide. The companies said additional details about the merger would be available in coming weeks.

CRO merger and acquisition activity has been strong in the last two years. Many of the those deals have been backed by private equity firms, such as $3.9 billion acquisition of Wilmington, North Carolina CRO PPD by The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman. Morningstar and other industry observers expect M&A activity to continue, fed by private equity’s interest in making CRO deals.

Inclinix was founded in 1999 to provide an array of enrollment and recruitment services for companies running clinical trials. Frontier Capital, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm, invested $10 million in Inclinix in 2008 to help the CRO expand. Frontier invests in business service companies — companies that play a role in business outsourcing services, such as CROs. The firm last year raised $80.7 million for a third fund capped at $200 million.

PMG started conducting clinical trials in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1979 and now has clinical research sites stretching across North Carolina and into Tennessee and South Carolina. The company, which is headquartered in Winston-Salem, says it has conducted 5,000 research studies for more than 100 pharmeceutical sponsors and CROs.

[Photo from Flickr user xmatt]