Life Science: Cerba HealthCare to Acquire Canadian Contract Research Laboratory CIRION BioPharma Research to Expand Bioanalytical Capabilities and Shorten Time-to-Deploy Complex Clinical Trials

September 7, 2023 |

6 min read

Cerba HealthCare, a leading global player in medical diagnosis, announced it has acquired CIRION BIOPHARMA RESEARCH INC, a Canadian-controlled private company highly recognized for its integrated bioanalytical and global central laboratory services.

The acquisition points up the Group’s ambition to provide its clinical research customers with best-in-class scientific input and critical flexibility for their drug development programs.
It will reinforce Pharmacokinetic / Pharmacodynamic (PKPD) and Immunogenicity testing expertise to support the pharma industry.
CIRION’s CAP/CLIA certifications and GLP certified facilities meeting regulatory standards in the North American market will sustain the Group’s fast growth on this market.

ISSY LES MOULINEAUX, France & LAVAL, Quebec--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cerba HealthCare, a leading global player in medical diagnosis, today announced it has acquired CIRION BIOPHARMA RESEARCH INC (CIRION), a Canadian-controlled private company highly recognized for its integrated bioanalytical and global central laboratory services.

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CIRION, a leading contract research organization has been operating global clinical trials over 30 years. Besides its bioanalytical capabilities highly specialized in Biosimilars/Biologics development including PKPD and Immunogenicity testing, it offers central lab full solutions with fast start-up capabilities for managing international multi-center clinical studies and supports specimen management for complex development projects. The company has a workforce of over 80 employees comprised of PhD holders, medical specialists and a network of renowned university researchers.

Cerba HealthCare appreciates CIRION’s reputation for its deep expertise with Large Molecules development and, high-quality services being fully GLP compliant, with an impressive client base including some of the world’s top 10 global pharmaceutical companies. Being CAP (College of American Pathologists) and CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) accredited assures that their lab is scientifically endorsed to regulatory standards in the North American market.

CIRION offers a full range of services, from the development of specialized assays to laboratory testing required for clinical studies, allowing the company to meet the complex needs of their reputable clients. Furthermore, the company provides R&D services from preclinical drug discovery to phase IV clinical stage drug development.

Within Cerba HealthCare’s comprehensive Group offering, and ranking under the Cerba Research brand, clinical laboratory and diagnostic solutions for clinical and IVD trials have grown considerably over the past years, demonstrating a strong track record in patient recruitment and clinical trial sample testing, as well as in white-glove logistics solutions for immuno-oncology, anti-infectives, cell & gene therapies and metabolic disorders. Over the years, Cerba Research has evolved to become the precision medicine partner to CROs, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, and non-profit organizations with growing needs for global complex clinical research programs.

CIRION will rank under Cerba HealthCare’s business unit Cerba Research adding to its global network of cutting-edge laboratories in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific. CIRION’s full-service offering will fit perfectly into Cerba Research’s multispecialty services portfolio and complement it. By combining deep expertise and agility of a specialist laboratory with the capacity, breadth and global reach of a central lab, Cerba Research is expanding its one-stop-shop offering for its clients.

Cerba Research CEO Mario Papillon said: “I see CIRION as a true strategic step in improving our offering both geographically and scientifically. It deepens our North American presence while featuring sound expertise in PKPD assay development and testing, which is instrumental knowledge for our customers as it relates drug concentration to drug effect. Their extensive knowledge and unrivalled reputation will naturally make CIRION the Cerba Research center of excellence in bioanalytics across the globe, helping us accelerate fulfill our clients’ needs in the development of personalized medicine. We are proud to welcome CIRION’s renowned high-quality scientists and very much looking forward to onboarding the team.”

Dr. Sylvain Desrochers and Dr. Lise Dallaire, founders of CIRION added: “We are very proud of what CIRION has accomplished over the past 30 years, and yet, it was time to find a new foundation to bring our scientific contribution to the next level. It is an honor to join the Cerba HealthCare galaxy though their world class clinical research provider: with Cerba Research, we found the perfect breeding ground where our combined expertise and capabilities will help our teams meet the ever-changing scientific, logistical and analytical challenges of clinical studies. This is truly galvanizing stage for our people to see their purpose pursued at a greater scale and we will remain closely associated to the business operations of this new entity. The CIRION scientists and experts are very excited to join Cerba Research in their continuous quest to provide the best possible solutions to serve and improve the clinical trials of our life science customers.”

About Cerba HealthCare

Cerba HealthCare, a leading global player in medical diagnosis, aims to support the evolution of health systems towards more prevention. It draws on more than 50 years of expertise in clinical pathology to better assess the risk of diseases development, detect and diagnose diseases earlier, and optimize the effectiveness of personalized medicine. Every day, on 5 continents, the Group’s 15 000 employees sustain the transformation of medicine, driven by one deep conviction: to advance diagnosis is to advance health.

Cerba HealthCare, enlightening health.

Additional information is available at www.cerbahealthcare.com

About Cerba Research

We offer world-class clinical research that helps life science companies to successfully develop the predictive and precision medicines of the future.

We combine the deep expertise and agility of the specialist laboratory with the capacity, breadth and global reach of a central lab. Our unique approach to patient data offers our customers the opportunity to have one partner for all their test services, with regular access and consistent support across all clinical trial phases.

Our customer centric approach means flexible solutions to unique challenges, providing reassurance and efficacy, whilst offering agility at scale. Our customers today are our partners tomorrow.

For more information visit www.cerbaresearch.com

About CIRION

CIRION is a leading contract research laboratory providing global central laboratory services for clinical studies and bioanalytical services highly specialized in Biologics/Biosimilars. It offers a comprehensive selection of PKPD/Immunogenicity methods’ development and validation, project management and clinical testing services (GLP and non GLP).

Based in the Montreal metropolitan area, a strategic hub for the management of multinational clinical trials, CIRION is well positioned to respond efficiently to international project requirements.