CHICAGO, Aug. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — BPOC, one of the longest tenured pure-play healthcare investors, today announced a new partnership with experienced pharmaceutical executive, Mark Scullion, to build a premier clinical research site platform serving the pharmaceutical market.

Mr. Scullion has spent more than 15 years in the clinical research industry and brings a unique understanding of the site selection process and value needs of pharmaceutical sponsors. Mark was most recently the Global Head of Trial Monitoring for Novartis AG, and also previously held leadership roles at Syneos Health and IQVIA, where he developed novel approaches to clinical trial design and execution. At Novartis Mr. Scullion led a group of clinical professionals delivering over 300 clinical studies in partnership with 14,000 investigative sites across the world.

BPOC will work with Mr. Scullion to build a high-performing site network through acquisition and organic growth leveraging a centralized platform that will solve critical pain points for pharmaceutical sponsors. This effort marks BPOC’s third partnership in the pharmaceutical services space in the last year and is consistent with BPOC’s thesis driven approach to investing. In December 2021, BPOC made a strategic investment in Network Partners, a leading provider of consulting services to medical device and pharmaceutical companies, and in August 2022, the firm made an investment in Praxis Packaging Solutions, a provider of primary and secondary contract packaging services for over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceutical, medical device, animal health and health & beauty industries.

Clinical research sites are critical to the drug development process as trial sponsors and CROs typically rely on research sites to handle patient recruitment and retention, trial administration and data capture. The U.S. clinical trial research site market is valued at approximately $16 billion and is expected to see strong growth over the next 3-5 years, primarily driven by increased R&D and product development in the pharmaceutical and medical device spaces. Despite the growing investment in clinical research, R&D returns are diminishing due to lengthening trial times and increased costs, thus creating the need for increased efficiency in clinical research.

BPOC and Mr. Scullion believe there is ample opportunity to create value in the space through consolidation of sites and the formation of a robust site network that creates a more commercially oriented business with tighter operational controls, greater access to patients and increased speed to trial – leading to greater reliability and lower costs for trial sponsors and CROs.

“Creating a platform of scale with centralized management and sophisticated systems will be a significant asset to patients, sites, and pharma sponsors,” said Mark Scullion. “BPOC is an ideal partner given their strong track record in the healthcare space with more than 25 years of experience, and I am confident that with the team we will build a successful platform.”

“Mark’s unique understanding of the challenges pharmaceutical sponsors face in the development process, given his experience with both pharma sponsors and clinical research organizations, will be instrumental to our success in this effort. Leveraging this experience alongside BPOC’s expansive sourcing network will drive acquisitions in the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023. Additionally, BPOC will seek to engage its deep bench of seasoned operating partners who will work to implement best practices and provide industry expertise, all while accelerating value creation across the new platform.” said BPOC Partner Troy Phillips.

About BPOC

Founded in 1996, BPOC is a Chicago-based private equity firm that invests exclusively in healthcare companies and is one of the nation’s most experienced investors in the industry having raised five funds with total capital commitments of nearly $1.8 billion. BPOC has invested in numerous providers, manufacturing, outsourcing, distribution and information technology companies through growth equity, management buyouts and leveraged recapitalizations. For more information, visit www.bpoc.com

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SOURCE BPOC