First investment for Curewell Capital
AMR’s growth accelerated with new acquisitions in Wichita, KS and Salt Lake City, UT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Alliance for Multispecialty Research (“AMR”), one of the largest independent commercial research site groups in the United States, today announced a majority recapitalization by Curewell Capital in partnership with existing shareholders and management. AMR operates as a fully integrated network of 16 sites, focused on executing Phase I-IV clinical trials in complex inpatient populations, special populations and healthy volunteers.
Dr. William Smith, Founder and CEO of AMR, commented, “Our partnership with Curewell Capital brings significant new capital and expert resources to AMR that will help us accelerate our growth and expand our footprint to support the increased demand for quality site management services. For more than 28 years we have been focused on delivering the highest quality service through a focus on extensive therapeutic expertise.”
Founded as an affiliation of independent research sites in 1994, AMR merged into a cohesive, single platform in 2017 and has since leveraged its experience and expertise across its platform to meet industry demands in key therapeutic areas. AMR has completed more than 7,800 trials with over 160,000 study participants, and is an award-winning, recognized leader in innovative vaccine research. With a database of over one million patients, AMR’s core skills and therapeutic expertise help its clients achieve rapid, high-quality and cost-effective clinical trials that ultimately allow for the rapid introduction of life-saving therapies.
David P. King, Operating Partner at Curewell Capital and Chairman of AMR’s Board of Directors, said, “We look forward to supporting the AMR team as it continues to serve over 400 clients per year performing clinical trials across a wide range of therapeutic areas. We have been impressed with the wide network of sites, which provides broad therapeutic expertise and unparalleled access to patients to enhance speed to market for new drug therapies.”
AMR has a long track record of success through the careful buildout of a network of high-quality sites led by experienced clinicians and executives. Michael Dal Bello, Managing Partner at Curewell Capital, said, “Dr. Smith and the entire executive leadership team at AMR have created the industry-leading site management business through a ‘patient first’ approach that has made it the partner of choice for its global biopharmaceutical and CRO customers.”
AMR expects to continue its rapid organic and inorganic growth. The Company completed an acquisition in Wichita, KS and recently acquired Pharmaceutical Research Organization (“PRO”) (www.amrutah.com). PRO is a recognized leader in research for child and adolescent clinical trials and adds both new capabilities and a new location in Salt Lake City. Together the two acquisitions expand AMR’s geographic coverage and therapeutic areas of expertise.
As part of the recapitalization, Paula Brown Stafford, CEO of Novan and former President of Clinical Development Services at Quintiles (now IQVIA), will be joining the AMR Board of Directors and said, “AMR is well known for its therapeutic expertise. I look forward to supporting the team to further its goal of delivering timely and cost-effective solutions, which is fundamental to bringing much needed scientific advancements to market.”
Fairmount Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor and Butler Snow acted as legal advisor to AMR. Kirkland & Ellis provided legal transaction advice, McDermott, Will & Emery provided regulatory legal advice and Ernst & Young provided financial and tax advice to Curewell Capital.
About Alliance for Multispecialty Research (“AMR”)
AMR is the leading independent site management company with a 28-year history of successfully executing clinical trials across a network of 16 clinical sites. The Company has over 125 dedicated principal investigators with more than 400 years of combined experience across 20+ therapeutic areas, providing its pharmaceutical sponsor and CRO clients unparalleled access to patients. AMR’s experience and scale allows it to deliver improved efficiencies and exceptional clinical quality. AMR is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.
About Curewell Capital
Curewell Capital is a growth-oriented investment firm focused on building industry-leading healthcare companies. Drawing upon decades of investment and operating experience in healthcare services, pharmaceutical services, medical devices, healthcare technology, Curewell Capital partners with owners and management teams leading extraordinary companies that improve patient outcomes, create efficiencies and foster innovation. Curewell Capital’s patient capital base provides the ability to invest in minority and majority equity positions with a flexible time horizon. The firm is based in Los Angeles, California.
SOURCE Curewell Capital