INC Research/inVentiv Health rebrands itself as Syneos Health

Making use of one of its divisions, Addison Whitney, whose business includes generating the brand names of many recently commercialized pharma products, the 2017 merger of INC Research and inVentiv will now be known as Syneos Health.

“Syneos Health fully expresses our value proposition – that is, our ability to deliver integrated end-to-end solutions and create new paths for our customers to develop and commercialize their therapies,” said Alistair Macdonald, CEO of Syneos Health. “Unlike traditional CROs and commercialization businesses, we are knocking down walls and enabling clinical and commercial experts to work in sync by using the latest technologies, advanced business practices and the advantages of scale.”

At least in news-release copy, Syneos is pushing itself to the forefront of one-stop clinical-to-commercial service delivery, calling itself the “only fully integrated, end-to-end biopharmaceutical solutions organization.” That would get an argument from the folks at IQVIA (the renamed business formed from IMS Health and Quintiles) and, arguably the Covance/LabCorp merger, and maybe even a wholesaler like AmerisourceBergen, which ventured into the clinical trials space with its acquisition of World Courier several years ago. Another CRO, Paraxel, has been busy adding commercially-focused acquisitions and business line extensions, such as the acquisition of the Medical Affairs Co. early last year. The contract research organization business underwent something of a sea change in 2017, with numerous mergers and recapitalizations, leaving it consolidated into a smaller number of much larger organizations, with an emphasis on providing one-stop shopping for drug developers. Some of the combinations are now at a scale of Top 20 pharma companies themselves, which should create some interesting dynamics in drug commercialization.