The contract research organisation (CRO) has bolstered its presence in several markets in recent months and is looking to build on this with the latest investment. Further financial details of the investment have not been disclosed.
Ecron has built a clinical trial network in India and Central and Eastern Europe and in the second half of this calendar year has made a number of deals to further expand its geographic reach.
Most recently it opened an office in Moscow, Russia to benefit from the “high recruitment rates, low drop-out rates and high quality data” which can be achieved there, according to Antal Hajos, managing director and CEO of Ecron, Europe.
The establishment of an office in Moscow formalised Ecron’s activities in Russia, where it has operated for several years through collaborations. Over this period the CRO has built relationships with clinical trials sites which should help ease its entry into the market.
Ecron strategic alliances
In the case of Russia Ecron chose to establish its own office but on several other expansions this year it has opted for strategic alliances, such as last month’s deal with Japan-based Tokyo CRO.
This alliance is intended to strengthen Ecron’s offering China, Korea and Japan. D A Prasanna, founder of Ecron, placed particular emphasis on Japan, describing it as a “key market” with specific requirements for approval of new drug applications (NDA).
These requirements can present challenges to companies seeking to enter the market but by partnering with Tokyo CRO Ecron gains local knowledge. Ecron also partnered with Essential CRO, a trial and recruitment specialist, and Biotrial, a France-based CRO, earlier this year.
OrbiMed believes this offering makes Ecron an attractive investment, with Sunny Sharma, senior managing director of OrbiMed Advisors India, describing the CRO as being “uniquely positioned with talented scientists, excellent network and a broad service portfolio”.