Clinipace Worldwide, a global digital CRO (dCRO), has merged with Choice Pharma, a Pan-Asian CRO.  

Clinipace said the deal will strengthen its operational and therapeutic expertise in Asia, a region in high demand by Clinipace’s clients.

With the merger, the company extends its global footprint to include 20 operational offices in 15 countries, including new offices in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.

Chris Wang, managing director of Choice Pharma, will continue as managing director of Asian operations, with day-to-day operating responsibilities, reporting to CEO Jeff Williams. 

“To continue to address the changing industry landscape and the high demand by clients for operations in Asia, we began the process of determining the best path for investing in the growth of our company, which led us to Choice Pharma,” said Williams. “With complementary operational strengths, a great reputation for quality and an experienced management team, the decision to combine the two companies was the best solution to continue to meet the long-term strategic goals of clients on both sides.”

Williams said Clinipace is the only “purpose-built CRO with deep therapeutic expertise and broad geographic capacity built on our proprietary technology-enabled service model that we call a digital CRO, or dCRO.  This model delivers visibility and simplified study management through real-time performance metrics at a reduced cost to venture-based, mid-tier life science firms around the world.”

“A streamlined, efficient operational approach with real-time transparency that reduces cost and budget volatility is the future of clinical trials,” said Wang. “Not only can our clients leverage Clinipace’s dCRO delivery model, but they now have access to a comprehensive and integrated clinical operations, data management, biostatistics and regulatory consultancy outside of Asia.”

The combined company creates a global clinical development service offering for the mid-market, along with product development, regulatory and GxP/CMC/QA consultancy. Most importantly, Clinipace and Choice clients now have access to new markets for site activation and patient enrollment.

This is Clinipace’s fifth acquisition in recent years, including its September 2012 purchase of global CRO Paragon Biomedical, based in Irvine, Calif. With Choice Pharma, the company now has more than 640 global staff. The combined company has managed over 1,500 clinical research studies and more than 300 completed regulatory and strategic development engagements. 

Clinipace will maintain its global headquarters in Research Triangle Park, N.C., with additional domestic operations in Irvine, Calif.; Overland Park, Kan.; and Boulder, Colo. European operations are in Switzerland, Germany and London; Asian operations are in Taiwan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. In South America the company operates in Brazil and Argentina. Additional offices are in Israel and India. 

No layoffs or office closings are planned. Terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.

Clinipace is powered by TEMPO, its proprietary eClinical platform, and has experience across multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, central nervous system, dermatology, gastroenterology, immunology, infectious diseases, nephrology, oncology, respiratory, rheumatology, and vaccines (and other cell and tissue based therapies).