JSS Medical Research, the full-service clinical research organisation (CRO) based in Montreal, Canada, has signed a joint venture and co-operative marketing agreement with fellow CRO Venn Life Sciences that broadens the partners’ respective service offerings while extending their combined geographical reach across North America and Europe.
The agreement between JSS and Venn Life Sciences Holdings involves JSS acquiring certain unspecified assets of Venn’s Canadian subsidiary, Venn Life Sciences Ltd.
As a result, Venn Life Sciences Ltd will cease to operate independently in Canada and its president, Dr Sanjay Machado, will work as a “resource” for JSS and Venn, promoting the joint venture arrangement from JSS’s offices in Montreal, the two companies noted.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, Venn Life Sciences provides comprehensive clinical-trial management services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device clients. Chief executive officer (CEO) Tony Richardson said the partnership with JSS was “truly international in nature drawing upon the respective strengths of both companies”.
Diversified portfolio
While Venn would be in a better position to pursue market opportunities in North America, the strategic alliance also meant a more diversified portfolio of services for its European clients, “given the science-based expertise of JSS”, Richardson explained.
For JSS, the attractions lay in Venn’s strategic positioning within the European market and its strengths in clinical trial monitoring and project management, said Dr John S. Sampalis, the Canadian company’s CEO, chief scientific officer and founder.
The joint venture arrangement was part of a global growth strategy being executed by JSS through targeted acquisitions and key strategic alliances, Sampalis added.
