ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services, Inc (RPS), a US-based provider of what it calls “integrated clinical development outsourcing solutions” to the biopharmaceutical industry, has agreed to acquire Paramax International, a contract research organisation (CRO) with operations in the US and China, for a mixture of cash and shares.
RPS will make a cash payment of US$1.0 million and will hand over 530,973 shares of its common stock (par value: US$0.0001 per share) for the privately held Paramax, in a transaction expected to close in late May. The cash element will come out RPS’ existing resources, while the shares will be held in escrow and released in three equal portions on the three-month, 12-month and 18-month anniversaries of the deal’s completion.
The move will give RPS expanded capabilities in the Asian market, complementing its existing operations in the Americas and Europe, the company noted. Paramax has headquarters in Beijing and an operations office in Shanghai, China, which will serve as RPS’ Asian base as it continues its planned expansion across the region.
RPS Inc was incorporated in Delaware in January 2006 but its subsidiary/operating company, ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services, LLC, and its predecessors have been around since 1994.
Headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and with subsidiary offices across Latin America and Europe, the company says its “innovative” business model combines “the expertise of a traditional CRO with the ability to provide flexible outsourcing solutions that are fully integrated within RPS’ clients’ clinical drug development infrastructure”.
