ICON (NSDQ:ICLR) said today that it has acquired a majority share in MeDiNova Research, a site network with research sites in key markets in Europe and Africa, and that it has the right to acquire the remaining shares in the company by the third quarter of 2020.
The acquisition adds to Dublin, Ireland-based ICON’s patient recruitment capabilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and complements the contract research company’s existing site network in the U.S., PMG Research.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Coventry, U.K., MeDiNova Research is a network of 33 clinical research sites in the U.K., Spain, South Africa, Poland and Romania. MeDiNova Research has experience across many therapeutic areas, with particular experience in musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, dermatology, infectious disease, metabolic, general health and vaccine studies, according to a statement from ICON. MeDiNova also has experience operating a number of different site models, including dedicated research sites, integrated research sites and working closely with affiliate sites.
MeDiNova Research specializes in Phase II-IV clinical studies in multiple therapeutic areas. The company has a proprietary database of 400,000 patients who reside within easy reach of the sites and access to more than 5 million potential study patients via electronic medical records through strong healthcare partnerships, according to ICON.
“MeDiNova sites are focused on being high enrollers coupled with high quality, to exceed our pharma clients’ expectations,” said MeDiNova CEO Kumar Muthalagappan OBE in the statement. “Our solutions are based on reducing startup times, early achievement of enrollment targets and high retention rates by delivering an excellent patient experience. ICON provides MeDiNova with a great opportunity for continued growth through scaling our knowledge, infrastructures and healthcare relationships. The MeDiNova-ICON combination will further enhance our highly productive models to deliver best in class site performance for the industry.”
ICON CEO Steve Cutler praised MeDiNova for having “a focused patient, site and data strategy that helps ICON to improve site identification, study placement and patient recruitment and retention.
“A successful element of our strategy has been our integrated PMG site network in the U.S. and our ability to grow alliances with third-party sites and healthcare institutions in the U.S. and Europe,” Cutler said. “MeDiNova provides us with a platform to further expand our site network in key EMEA markets and will help us to recruit patients into studies faster. MeDiNova’s experience in operating multiple site models and their strong therapeutic expertise will greatly benefit our customers’ development programs.”
ICON shares fluctuated slightly on the news, opening at $139.13 and selling at $139.02 by 12:30 P.M. Eastern time.
