The former leader of Wake Research is diving back into the clinical trial space.
The former longtime executive of a clinical research site organization in Raleigh has launched a new venture.
After a decades-long career at M3 Wake Research, Dr. Ella Grach in 2022 left the company she founded. This was a successful exit that came about four years after the company — previously called Wake Research — was acquired by global company M3 Inc. in 2018.
After considering semi-retirement, Grach last year launched a new clinical research site network called Eximia Research with a capital investment from private equity firm VSS Capital Partners of New York. The goal with this venture is to position clinical research as a health care option, especially in communities where options are lacking.
"The way we do that is by partnering with health care organizations," Grach said. "We bring the infrastructure in embedding our research capabilities in the health care organization, which results in access to cutting edge innovation."
Financial terms of the VSS Capital investment were not disclosed.
expandThe company has added multiple sites throughout the country and is in the process of closing on No. 12. Grach said Eximia could reach up to 14 sites by the end of the year.
The company is based in Raleigh, where it operates a research site and has its corporate team. Aside from North Carolina, Eximia has research sites in California, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia. Eximia most recently announced its move into Virginia with the acquisition of Tidewater Clinical Research.
By working with health care organizations, patients are able to access different treatments being evaluated in clinical trials that might not otherwise be available. At the same time, the company is helping drug developers and contract research organizations running those clinical trials reach broader patient populations that may better reflect real-world patient populations.
Eximia's research sites are multi-speciality, with the company being able to service clinical trials across various therapeutic areas. The company's site network is able to support all phases of clinical trials, Grach said.
"We're working with major pharmaceutical companies, but we're also serving and partnering with small and mid-sized biotechs," Grach said. "And we do a lot of work with device companies as well."
expandGrach said the company is not planning to become a massive network of more than 100 sites. Instead, the focus is on quality.
"We are aiming for health care organizations that deliver medical care to underserved communities," Grach said. "Also we partner with organizations that share our mentality and our goal of bringing clinical trials to the care option."
Clinical trial sites is an area that's attracting more money from private equity firms and other larger organizations, according to a recent report from PitchBook.
"Within the clinical services segment, the clinical trial site market is of particular interest to PE sponsors because it presents the opportunity to not only leverage multiple arbitrage but also pull significant operational levers to improve outcomes," the report says.
The Triangle area is home to multiple clinical research site companies backed by private equity. American Clinical Research Services, based in Raleigh, was formed in 2022 and is growing its network by acquiring sites and building out new ones. Most recently the company added multiple sites through its acquisition of Elixia and then later rebranded to take on the Elixia name.
Velocity Clinical Research, a research site operator headquartered in Durham, has accumulated a network of more than 90 sites through the U.S. and Europe in recent years. Velocity was acquired in 2021 by GHO Capital at a time when it operated only 14 clinical research sites