The global public health organization NSF International has acquired a majority interest in Amarex Clinical Research, a Germantown, MD-headquartered contract research organization (CRO) with approximately 80 employees.
Amarex President and CEO Dr. Kazem Kazempour will continue to lead the company, which is now part of NSF’s global health science consulting business, operating under the name Amarex Clinical Research, LLC, an NSF International company.
Martin Lush, global vice president of health sciences at NSF International, said the deal extends the organization’s services across the medical device, pharma, and biotech product lifecycle – “from phase one clinical trials through manufacturing, remediation, and post-market surveillance.”
“Amarex delivers clinical trial expertise to NSF International’s large base of existing training, quality, and consulting clients. Amarex’s client base will benefit from NSF International’s training, quality, and consulting services, especially in EU Qualified Person training,” he told us.
Additionally, the acquisition boosts NSF’s global consulting and technical services, said Lush, and is in line with its goal to further expand its food, water, health sciences, and laboratory services.
The deal also sees NSF add previously unavailable offerings to its lineup, including clinical trial management and operations expertise, in addition to biostatistics, data management, pharmacovigilance, and data safety monitoring committee capabilities.
With offices in Taiwan, the addition of Amarex also extends NSF’s global reach, specifically in the Asia Pacific region.
“Global health care is at a tipping point with governments struggling to meet growing health care needs. Pharma and medical device companies are faced with political and socio-economic challenges, supply chain complexity, and a changing regulatory landscape – including significant change in Europe with EUMDR and IVDR,” said Lush.
“Companies urgently need solutions to problems and challenges to improve quality standards and compliance, speed to market, productivity, and organizational resilience,” he added. “The acquisition of Amarex will allow NSF International to extend its services as a solution provider across the product life cycle for our pharma and medical devices clients.”