WCG acquisition expands services to patient recruitment

WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG) has acquired the global patient recruitment, enrollment, and retention firm, ThreeWire.

"The ThreeWire approach to providing global clinical trial patient recruitment, enrollment, retention, and research site optimization services is a natural fit with WCG," Mark Summers, ThreeWire CEO told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.

According to the company, it combines technology with “on-the-ground resources” to help investigators recruit and conduct clinical studies.

Additionally, ThreeWire has more than 300 clinical research professionals, called “Enrollment Assistants,” who work at study sites to close resource gaps where needed.

Other on-site recruitment services include patient chart review as a step to identify study candidates and conducting community outreach to patient groups and referral physicians.

The company’s US headquarters are Minneapolis with another base in Frankfurt, Germany.

"Together, WCG and ThreeWire accelerate study start-up for sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs), improve ROI on clinical trials, and accelerate patient access to innovative medicines," said Summers.  

"With the growth that ThreeWire has experienced both domestically and globally, it was time to find an organization with which they could continue to have scalable and innovative growth while ensuring their mission and values were aligned," he added.

As part of the acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, ThreeWire will continue to operate as an independent organization.

"There is no plan to “fully absorb” ThreeWire into WCG. WCG’s plan for ThreeWire is to support them to operate independently, while providing resources to help the company as it continues to expand, with access to capital, complementary clinical and regulatory expertise, and corporate support," Summers explained.