Evestia Clinical merges with Atlantic Research Group to enhance global capabilities

UK trials contractor Evestia Clinical has merged with US counterpart Atlantic Research Group (ARG) to expand its reach and add capacity for neurology-focused drug studies.

The deal doubles the size of Evestia’s workforce. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to the CRO, ARG will integrate with its operations with “no change to its services or teams.” In addition, the ARG executive team will join the senior leadership team of the enlarged group.

CEO Richard Barfield framed the merger as part of a wider effort to expand the CRO’s business offering and geographic reach.

“Evestia Clinical was founded to rapidly build a global specialist CRO through organic and acquisitive growth. The Evestia Clinical board and leadership team identified ARG as the perfect company to combine with at this stage in our journey,” he said.

This was echoed by ARG CEO Paul Bishop, who said, “The highly experienced and globally recognized leadership team at Evestia Clinical is building a world-class specialist CRO provider, and we are excited to bring across our whole team on this journey.”

Letchworth, UK-based Evestia is backed by private equity investor Kester Capital, which took a controlling stake in the CRO — then called EMAS Pharma — in December of last year.

Adam Maidment, managing Partner at Kester, was upbeat about the deal, commenting that, “The addition of ARG to Evestia Clinical is an important step in the company’s goal to become a truly global specialist CRO that provides high-quality, tailored services to clients in complex, high-research therapeutic areas.

“The global CRO market is attractive and growing and Evestia Clinical continues to accelerate and grow its market share,” he added.

In addition, the ARG executive team will join the senior leadership team of the enlarged group.

DepositPhotos/bruesw