Curewell invests in US trial site group AMR

Investment group Curewell Capital has acquired a major holding in the Alliance for Multispecialty Research (AMR), a US network of commercial research sites.

The investment – terms of which were not disclosed – was described as a “majority recapitalization” by Curewell, which said the deal was carried out in partnership with existing shareholders and management.

As part of the deal Paula Brown Stafford, CEO of specialty dermatology company Novan and former President of Clinical Development Services at Quintiles (now IQVIA), will be joining the AMR executive board.

AMR CEO William Smith, said the deal “brings significant new capital and expert resources to AMR that will help us accelerate our growth and expand our footprint to support the increased demand for quality site management services.”

Knoxville, Tennessee headquartered AMR was founded as an affiliation of independent research sites in 1994. It developed into a cohesive, single platform in 2017.

The organization comprises a network of nearly 20 clinical trial sites across the US, the newest of which is a facility in Wichita, Kansas that the firm acquired earlier this year.

In addition, AMR recently bought Pharmaceutical Research Organization (PRO) a specialist in the provision of services for child and adolescent trials. The deal added another research site in Salt Lake City, Utah to the AMR network.

The AMR investment is the first made by Curewell since it was founded by the ex-health care team at Chicago-based financing group Pritzker Private Capital.

David King, Operating Partner at Curewell said, "We look forward to supporting the AMR team as it continues to serve over 400 clients per year performing clinical trials across a wide range of therapeutic areas.

“We have been impressed with the wide network of sites, which provides broad therapeutic expertise and unparalleled access to patients to enhance speed to market for new drug therapies."

Image: Stock Photo Secrets