CRO giant and leading healthcare information provider merge to create a wide-ranging R&D-to-commerical services company, in a deal some contend could trigger a trend of larger CROs adding complementary non-clinical offerings.
Quintiles, the world's largest contract research organization (CRO), and information and technology juggernaut IMS Health have agreed to an all-stock merger to create a combined company with service offerings across the entire life sciences product lifecycle-from R&D through commercial to the emerging areas of real-world evidence and patient outcomes. To be officially named Quintiles IMS, the new organization, according to the companies, will boast one of the world’s largest portfolios of healthcare information; deep therapeutic, domain, regulatory, and commercial analytic expertise; and proprietary technology applications supported by more than 50,000 employees operating in 100 countries.
The combined company is worth $17.6 billion based on market capitalization and with $7.2 billion in pro forma revenue in 2015. Industry consultants such as ISR believe this dealmaking trend in the CRO space will likely continue, as the larger CROs look to add complementary services and mid-size companies attempt to quickly gain scale to try to keep up.
Read the full release here.
Merck Launches Phase III Trials of Once-Monthly Oral HIV PrEP Candidate MK-8527
July 14th 2025In the new EXPrESSIVE clinical trial program, Merck will evaluate MK-8527, a once-monthly, oral PrEP therapy, in populations at high risk of HIV-1 infection, including adolescent girls and women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Unifying Industry to Better Understand GCP Guidance
May 7th 2025In this episode of the Applied Clinical Trials Podcast, David Nickerson, head of clinical quality management at EMD Serono; and Arlene Lee, director of product management, data quality & risk management solutions at Medidata, discuss the newest ICH E6(R3) GCP guidelines as well as how TransCelerate and ACRO have partnered to help stakeholders better acclimate to these guidelines.
Baxdrostat Shows Significant Blood Pressure Reduction in Phase III BaxHTN Trial
July 14th 2025In the BaxHTN Phase III study, AstraZeneca’s baxdrostat demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in systolic blood pressure in patients with uncontrolled or treatment-resistant hypertension.
New FDA Initiative Reveals Common Reasons for Drug Application Rejection
July 11th 2025By publishing more than 200 complete response letters, the FDA is offering new visibility into the issues that most often delay drug approvals, including safety concerns, trial design flaws, and manufacturing gaps.
Arcus’ Quemliclustat Earns Orphan Drug Designation as Phase III Pancreatic Cancer Trial Advances
July 11th 2025The FDA has granted orphan status to Arcus Biosciences’ CD73 inhibitor quemliclustat for metastatic pancreatic cancer, as the global PRISM-1 Phase III trial nears full enrollment following promising survival data from ARC-8.