palleos healthcare GmbH

Germany-based Palleos Healthcare operates primarily in Western and Central Europe, while OCT Clinical's territory covers eastern countries.  OCT Global SA, which operates under the brand name OCT Clinical, and Palleos Healthcare have merged under the Palleos brand name, the European contract research organizations announced in a May 27 release. Financial details were not disclosed.  “The merger will undoubtedly create significant synergies, not just doubling but squaring the expertise of both companies,” Philip Räth, Ph.D., managing director at Palleos, said in the release. He added that the merger is also advantageous from a geographical perspective: Germany-based Palleos operates primarily in Western and Central Europe, while OCT’s territory covers eastern countries. “Both together now cover the entire region with a product offering that ranges from pre-clinical consulting to regulatory affairs and clinical trials,” Räth said. Prior to the merger, Palleos was focused mainly on product development in the oncology space. The company’s services included preclinical and clinical research strategy and trial management as well as post-market data collection. OCT was a full-service CRO that handled operations for trials in oncology, rheumatology, infectious disease and other conditions.  The deal was facilitated by life sciences incubator and major Palleos shareholder Swiss Xlife Sciences.

Contract research organisations (CROs) palleos healthcare and OCT Global on Monday announced they have united in a move they say creates a "powerhouse" in the field of clinical research in Europe. Specific financial terms were not disclosed, but the merger was backed by European life sciences incubator Swiss XlifeSciences."As a major shareholder in palleos, [we] see great potential in this union… to deliver superior clinical research solutions and advance global healthcare," said Xlife CEO Oliver Baumann.While oncology-focused palleos operates in Western and Central European markets such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, OCT is a full-serviced CRO in Eastern Europe covering areas such as Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria and the Baltic states.The companies said that by combining their complementary strengths, the newly merged entity, which will operate under the palleos healthcare brand, can recruit patients across a region spanning 300 million people."The merger will undoubtedly create significant synergies – not just doubling, but squaring the expertise of both companies," said Philip Räth, managing director at palleos. "Both together now cover the entire region with a product development offering that ranges from pre-clinical consulting to regulatory affairs and clinical trials."Palleos and OCT suggested the merger could hold particular relevance for pharma sponsors on the "lookout for efficient solutions for patient recruitment." Citing FDA statistics, the companies said that roughly 76% of the US agency's 55 novel drug approvals last year included clinical trials conducted across much of the merged entity's European footprint, spanning Germany, Georgia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Ukraine and Latvia.