Synteract has completed its acquisition of Harrison Clinical Research (HCR), forming a new multinational CRO, SynteractHCR, with corporate headquarters in San Diego County. Wendel Barr will serve as chief executive officer and Dr. Francisco Harrison, formerly HCR’s chairman and founder, will remain a senior member of the executive team and a member of the board of directors. Also, former Synteract chief operating officer Stewart Bieler will become president of U.S. operations, and former HCR chief executive officer Benedikt van Nieuwenhove will become president of European operations for SynteractHCR.  

The merger provides additional resources and scale to support large, later phase programs. The combined company will have offices in 16 countries with operations in both Western and Eastern Europe, Israel and South America, as well as the U.S. SynteractHCR’s U.S. presence will also include offices in Research Triangle Park, NC and Princeton, NJ.

“Our longstanding drug development expertise allows us to form a new global leader with enhanced scale and therapeutic breadth, but with the personal approach that we have always taken to working with clients,” said Mr. Barr. “We will provide a continuum of service that allows us to work with clients throughout the entire development life cycle, from emerging products through post-marketing, and will bring technology efficiencies to the company that will help to take time and cost out of drug development.”

Fairmount Partners provided financial advice to Synteract, while KPMG International provided financial advice to HCR. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.