Ergomed, a U.K.-based CRO, has acquired Sound Opinion, a U.K. Medical Information (MI) service provider. Sound Opinion will be combined with Ergomed's existing post-marketing business PrimeVigilance. The acquisition, which is expected to be accretive in the first year, will be paid for from existing cash reserves with an earn-out based on future performance.

Sound Opinion has been trading profitably for over 18 years, providing outsourced MI services to pharma and generic companies selling medicines in the U.K. and Ireland.

This acquisition is the next step in Ergomed's strategy of strengthening the group's presence in the fast growing pharmaceutical post-marketing services sector, which began with the acquisition of PrimeVigilance at the IPO in July 2014.

Sound Opinion will be immediately combined with the existing MI business of PrimeVigilance that has an established U.K. and international footprint including native speakers in a number of European and other languages. The medium term strategy is to build out the combined strength in U.K. MI services into the main European markets, while continuing to expand in the U.K.

The current operational staff and management of Sound Opinion will all stay involved with the business after completion.