Fresh from its management buyout (MBO) with private equity backing in late March,  UK-based specialist contract research organisation Phlexglobal has opened a US office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to complement its existing West Coast presence in Carlsbad, California.

The US expansion comes in response to “exponential demand” seen by the California office for Phlexglobal’s services across North America, the company said.

Moreover, the recent MBO, effected through Inflexion Private Equity, will allow Phlexglobal to step up further its provision of clinical trial support services, underpinned by the recent launch of a third version of its electronic Trial Master File (eTMF) solution, PhlexEview, it noted.

The new East Coast office, which will deliver all of Phlexglobal’s TMF services including PhlexEview, will initially employ a staff of 20. That number is slated to grow to 50 employees within the first year of operation.

As well as providing a base for Phlexglobal’s resource solutions and operations task force, the 800 sq m office will house a new records centre for secure storage of live TMF documents for Phlexglobal clients across the US.

“The launch of a second office only a year after arriving in the US signals how rapidly Phlexglobal has established itself as a major player in the North American market,” commented managing director Stella Donoghue.  

The US office, coupled with the recent MBO, will give Phlexglobal a platform to move into new markets, including the Asia-Pacific region, while maintaining a strong presence in the UK and North America, Donoghue added.

Phlexglobal’s Carlsbad office, its first outside Europe, was opened in June 2010.