Syneos Health acquires Illingworth Research Group
Syneos Health has purchased clinical research in-home health service provider Illingworth Research Group, in order to help meet a surge in demand for direct-to-patient services. While the interest in in-home clinical services has climbed in recent years, the increase has been accelerated by the challenges and obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The patient-focused solutions provided by Illingworth Research have never been more relevant as healthcare continues to move closer to the patient,” said Alistair Macdonald, Syneos CEO. “COVID-19 has accelerated this need, benefiting patients who can continue to participate in trials from their homes and sponsors seeking new options built to boost enrollment rates.”
Illingworth Research currently offers both in-home and on-site research nursing services for clinical trials in more than 46 countries. Their offerings include mobile research nurse services, which are designed to help cut down travel time and alleviate patient burden by enabling them to stay in one place.
Additionally, Macdonald commented, in-home clinical services can help sites and sponsors expand their patient reach.
“Importantly, these solutions also help deliver on our commitment to increase diversity in clinical trials, accessing remote-based patients who traditionally would not have participated because of difficulty accessing research sites,” he said.
Illingworth has experience across Phase I–IV studies and handles a range of therapeutic areas, such as oncology, respiratory, rare disease and pediatrics. The company also provides additional patient-focused contract research organization (CRO) services focused on reducing patient and site burden.
According to Syneos, the acquisition adds scale and capabilities to its roster of decentralized clinical trial solutions. Its decentralized trial strategy reportedly seeks to increase flexibility of studies, harnessing data, staff, process and technology.
John Illingworth, chair and founder of Illingworth Research Group, said, “Joining Syneos Health offers significant opportunities to utilize our in-home clinical research expertise at greater scale, with the goal of enabling more patients to participate in trials. Illingworth Research and Syneos Health share complementary therapeutic expertise and cultural philosophies, and we plan to capitalize on our combined teams’ insights and technologies to speed innovation.”
Illingworth Research Group will maintain its brand, operating as a business unit of Syneos Health. Last year, the company elevated its US presence by opening an office in Denver, Colorado.
