Investcorp Acquires Danish Clinical Trial Company Sanos

Investcorp acquires Danish clinical trial company Sanos

BAHRAIN, (Pakistan Point News - 14th Dec, 2020) Bahrain's Investcorp on Monday announced that it has acquired Sanos Group, a leading provider of specialised clinical trial services to the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Based in Denmark, Sanos is a global Contract Research Organisation (CRO) providing value-added services to pharma, biotech and research organisations to help plan and conduct clinical trials, a critical part in the development of new drugs and treatments.

Sanos Group consists of a CRO specialised in osteoarthritis (OA) and a Site Management Organisation (SMO) with a broader indication range focusing on lifestyle and age-related diseases. Sanos has built a worldwide reputation for its scientific expertise, ability to recruit patients and track record of executing safe and efficient clinical trials.

The global CRO market is estimated to be approximately US$50 billion and is growing at approximately 10 percent per annum, driven by increasing R&D spend to develop new drugs and treatments as well as a trend by pharma and biotech companies to outsource the clinical trials for new drugs to CROs.

Sanos’ scientific leadership in OA, a highly prevalent disease that currently affects more than 240 million people worldwide, together with its strong network of key opinion leaders and its integrated value chain with three owned research clinics in Denmark, makes it a preferred strategic partner for OA clinical trials.

Investcorp plans to support Sanos’ efforts to capitalise on its multiple market opportunities by further increasing its penetration in OA while looking to grow into clinical trials for other therapeutic areas and expanding its research clinics network into new geographies.

Daniel Lopez-Cruz, Head of Private Equity, Europe at Investcorp, said, "Sanos has all the key attributes that we look for in potential investments. It is an entrepreneurial organisation with a clearly differentiated value proposition as well as a leading market position in a growing, resilient and mission-critical industry. Sanos has established itself as the partner of choice for pharma and biotech companies looking to conduct clinical trials for osteoarthritis, a condition for which there is currently a very high unmet medical need given the large and growing population of people being affected by it and the fact that there is no cure for it at the moment.

"Leveraging its strong OA franchise, we believe that Sanos has significant potential for international expansion through new research clinics in the US -the largest market for clinical trials- and other European countries beyond Denmark. We look forward to partnering with Sanos’ experienced management team to realise the opportunities ahead."

For his part, Tarek AlMahjoub, Head of UAE and Oman for Investcorp’s Private Wealth, said, "At Investcorp, we focus on investment opportunities in mid-sized companies with strong growth potential, solid cash flow, prominent positioning within their industry, and best-in-class management teams with a robust track record. We believe that Sanos aligns with all of our key criteria and we look forward to supporting the company’s growth and expansion."

Investcorp has an established history of investing in the healthcare sector globally. The acquisition of Sanos is Investcorp’s 11th investment in the healthcare sector and the third in Europe, following its acquisition of a majority stake in Cambio Healthcare Systems, which operates in the Electronic Health Records market, and Acura, a network dedicated to providing accessible and high quality dental care across Germany.