ASG, a US company that provides functional outsourcing and speciality staffing services to contract research organisations as well as pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device players, has expanded its range by acquiring fellow Cary, North Carolina resident Ockham Development Gro
up for an undisclosed amount of stock.
Ockham is a privately held contract drug development company located near to Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, which ASG notes is a “university-technology-biotech/pharmaceutical sciences nexus”. James Baker, president and chief executive offi
cer (CEO) of ASG, said the addition of the Ockham team and services would “absolutely accelerate the ASG strategy to be the company of choice when choosing to outsource or augment with staff a clinical trial”.
In effect, ASG is bringing Ockham back into the stable. The latter started life in 1999 as inGenium Research, a spin-off from ASG. By 2002, the company’s scope had extended to regional operations in Europe, South America and the Middle East. In 2005, under president and CEO Dr Joshua Baker (no relation), inGenium was rechristened as Ockham Development Group, re-organising into distinct service groups to meet the targeted needs of its clientele.
James Baker called Ockham a “unique clinical research organisation” with “full development lifecycle consulting services”. Speaking for the acquired company, Joshua Baker said it was “a special situation when you can combine with a stable industry leader like ASG and quickly build more market value. The ASG platform will enable Ockham to scale its operations and extend its client reach into a true global presence”.
ASG’s services encompass clinical operations, auditing for good clinical practice, good laboratory practice or good manufacturing practice, data management, statistical programming, biostatistics and medical writing.
