• SKIP TO CONTENT
  • SKIP NAVIGATION
  • Patient Resources
    • Clinical Trial Listings
    • What are Clinical Trials?
    • Become a Clinical Trial Volunteer
    • Useful Resources
    • FDA Approved Drugs
  • Professional Resources
    • Research Center Profiles
    • Market Research
    • Benchmark Reports
    • FDA Approved Drugs
    • Training Guides
    • Books
    • eLearning
    • Events
    • Newsletters
    • White Papers
    • SOPs
  • White Papers
  • Clinical Trial Listings
  • Advertise
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Home » Essential CRO Expands Global Reach through Ecron Acunova Partnership

Essential CRO Expands Global Reach through Ecron Acunova Partnership

August 17, 2009
CenterWatch Staff

Up until a year ago, Gurnee, Ill.-based contract research organization (CRO) Essential CRO conducted most of its work in the United States, with a few projects in Canada and Mexico. Today, as a result of a strategic partnership with India-based Ecron Acunova, the company is growing its global footprint into India and Eastern Europe and plans to expand even more in the future.

Essential CRO and Ecron Acunova began bidding together on global projects last year, and the companies are now working on several global projects together. Because Essential CRO is not an integrated CRO (the company does not offer its own data management and statistics services, for example), the company is used to partnering with other CROs for services. However, this is the first strategic alliance of its kind for the company because it enables them to expand into new areas of the world, not just services.

“It was our strategy to grow this business globally as well as adding services,” said Essential CRO executive vice president and chief financial officer Dennis Cavender. “We’d been doing studies for non-U.S. pharma and biotech companies in the U.S. but not studies located outside the U.S. This really opens up an avenue for us to be able to get outside of the U.S. The market is still strong inside North America and the U.S., but, outside the U.S., the market is growing even more robust.”

As a result of the partnership, Essential CRO will now be able to offer its clients access to services in 18 countries. Essential CRO’s headcount is 75, but the partnership with Ecron Acunova provides them access to a total of 350 global employees, Cavender said.

Ecron Acunova has offices in Bangalore, India; Frankfurt, Germany; and Princeton, N.J. Although the CRO already has an office in the United States, they, too, hope to see their global portfolio grow through a partnership with a U.S.-based company, Cavender said.

“[The alliance] enables each of us to scale our operations and our capability without a significant dollar investment of trying to do it on our own,” Cavender said.

The Essential-Ecron Acunova alliance is the result of two years of discussion between the two companies—talks that reinforced the similarities between the CROs’ competencies, capabilities and senior management style, Cavender explained.

“Everyone has some differences in how they do things and in their SOPs [standard operating procedures], but, by and large, we’re very compatible in terms of how we approach it, how we write our SOPs, the commitment to quality, and the commitment to delivering with excellence,” Cavender said. “You might say we dated and got to know each other a little bit more, and at the end of the day, it’s about being able to produce results together that produce some synergies.”

Essential’s alliance with Ecron Acunova is open-ended in terms of end date and exclusivity, which leaves the door open for either company to partner with other CROs in other countries and regions of the world. Essential, however, is committed to this partnership for the time being.

“[The partnership] doesn’t limit us from entering into other partnerships, but, practically speaking, we’d like to see this one grow and flourish, and we can only handle so much at a time. Even with a partnership, it takes a lot of work,” Cavender said.

    Upcoming Events

    • 05Dec

      Thriving in Clinical Research – Overcoming Common Challenges as a Site: Part 3 – Site Resourcing

    • 14Apr

      MAGI 2024: The Clinical Research Conference

    Featured Products

    • Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection

      Surviving an FDA GCP Inspection: Resources for Investigators, Sponsors, CROs and IRBs

    • Best Practices for Clinical Trial Site Management

      Best Practices for Clinical Trial Site Management

    Featured Stories

    • Jonathan Seltzer

      Thought Leadership: Remote Patient Monitoring Gives New View of Safety in Cardiac Clinical Trials

    • Quality_Compass-360x240.png

      Ask the Experts: Applying Quality by Design to Protocols

    • Obesity Treatment Patient

      Clinical Trials Need Greater Representation of Obese Patients, Experts Say

    • Modernize-360x240.png

      FDA IT Modernization Plan Prioritizes Data-Sharing, AI, Collaboration and More

    Standard Operating Procedures for Risk-Based Monitoring of Clinical Trials

    The information you need to adapt your monitoring plan to changing times.

    Learn More Here
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell or Share My Data

    Footer Logo

    300 N. Washington St., Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA

    Phone 703.538.7600 – Toll free 888.838.5578

    Copyright © 2023. All Rights Reserved. Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing