Archimed merges Symbio and Proinnovera

• Symbio and Proinnovera are contract research organisations
• Archimed is an investment firm focused on healthcare sector
• Alan Morgan and Nick Thornton will join Symbio Proinnovera’s board

Archimed has acquired and merged Symbio and Proinnovera, two contract research organisations, in an all-equity deal.

The merged group will be known as Symbio Proinnovera and will be based in Germany. It provides consulting, testing and clinical research through every development stage, from conception to global regulatory approval and commercialisation.

Symbio and Proinnovera are based in New York and Munster, Germany, respectively.

“We’ve rejected partnership offers in the past from private equity firms, but we accepted this time because it was different,” said Richard Panico, Symbio’s co-founder and president.

Symbio and Proinnovera saw average annual revenue growth of 22 percent and 11 percent, respectively, over the last three years.

“As a bigger group with substantial capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic, we’ll have the resources to conduct even larger and more complex trials than in the past,” said Debra Dow, Symbio’s other co-founder and president of its subsidiary Dow Development Laboratories.

Panico and Dow, who will hold senior positions at Symbio Proinnovera, rolled over a major portion of their proceeds from Symbio’s sale into a double-digit stake in the merged group, according to a release.

Symbio Proinnovera has a strong pipeline of upcoming clinical trials in both North America and Europe, the release added.

Alan Morgan and Nick Thornton, veteran c-suite executives, will join Symbio Proinnovera’s board, with Morgan becoming its chairman.

Symbio Proinnovera will contribute to shorter trials and lower costs for clients through the use of its dermatological testing database, the release said.

Archimed is an investment firm focused on healthcare sector. It manages €7 billion across its various funds. It has offices in New York, Singapore and France.

No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.