WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG), one of the world's leading providers of solutions that measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research, announced its acquisition of CenterWatch, the leading provider of clinical trial industry news and information, and the addition of Kenneth A Getz, CenterWatch founder and owner, to its board of directors.
This acquisition will benefit the clinical trials industry, facilitating increased knowledge-sharing and communication among the key stakeholders in the clinical research environment: clinical trial sponsors, contract service providers, investigators, and study volunteers.
“We are delighted to welcome the passionate, highly-accomplished experts of the CenterWatch organization to our family of companies, and privileged to welcome Ken Getz to WCG’s board of directors,” said Donald A. Deieso, PhD, chairman and CEO of WCG. “In order for clinical research to function more efficiently, we must open up the pathways of communication and connectivity among its chief participants. Sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) rely on investigators, investigators rely on willing patients, and patients and practitioners increasingly rely on technology-driven solutions to keep informed of relevant clinical trials. WCG and CenterWatch will contribute to the promising future of a well-integrated ecosystem providing unprecedented access to critical information and knowledge among all trial participants, and in so doing, make an even greater positive impact on the clinical research process.”
“We are pleased and excited to join WCG, and to embark on our next stage of growth as a company and an information services provider,” said Joan A. Chambers, chief operating officer of CenterWatch. “WCG shares our values and mission, and enthusiastically supports our independence and objectivity as a publisher of clinical trials information, data and analysis.”
“WCG has made great strides in acquiring and integrating market leading assets,” said Getz. “I look forward to serving on its board and to participating in its ongoing efforts to drive efficiency, quality and performance under a strategic vision of a truly patient-centric clinical research enterprise.”
Getz is the chairman of CISCRP, a nonprofit organization that he founded to educate and raise public awareness of the clinical research process, and the director of sponsored programs and associate professor at the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD) where he studies R&D management and operating models, investigative site, outsourcing and study volunteer trends and policies. Prior to founding CenterWatch, Getz assisted biopharmaceutical companies in developing and implementing business strategies to improve clinical development performance. A well-known speaker at conferences, symposia, universities and corporations, Getz has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, books and in the trade press. Getz holds a number of board appointments in the private and public sectors and is on the editorial boards of several journals.
Getz joins WCG’s board of directors which includes other notable and accomplished members: James A. Bannon, PharmD, executive chairman of IndiPharm and former group president of Covance; Per Peterson, PhD, director of Life Technologies and former chairman of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development; and James Rothman, PhD, chairman of cellular biology at Yale University, the former chief science officer of GE Healthcare, and the recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Serving the industry for almost 50 years, WCG is the trusted partner of biopharmaceutical companies, CROs, institutions, and central research sites, and has overseen research conducted by 90 percent of the country’s FDA-regulated investigators. Comprised of the largest and most highly-accredited institutional review boards (IRBs) in the world, WCG’s chief focus is on finding ways to accelerate the clinical research process without jeopardizing the protection of study volunteers.
CenterWatch is recognized as the global leader in providing clinical trials information to research professionals and patients. The company provides proprietary data and information analysis on clinical trials and industry trends through the publication of a variety of well-respected newsletters, books, and databases, including CenterWatch Monthly, CWWeekly, the peer-reviewed Research Practitioner, the Drugs in Clinical Trials Database, and the Clinical Trials Data Library.
A pioneer in publishing clinical trials information, CenterWatch also maintains one of the largest online clinical trial databases actively seeking patients. With more than 80,000 industry-funded global trials across hundreds of disease conditions and phases, the CenterWatch Clinical Trials Listing Service generates more than 1.8+ million unique visitors annually.
Like the other WCG companies, CenterWatch will continue to operate independently at its current location, and will retain both its leadership and brand. WCG will support CenterWatch as it continues to expand, with access to capital, complementary clinical and regulatory expertise, and corporate support.
CenterWatch joins Western IRB (WIRB), Copernicus Group IRB, Midlands IRB, Aspire IRB, New England IRB, IRBNet, ePharmaSolutions, Clintrax Global and karmadata as a member of the WCG family of companies.
Financial details about the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1994, CenterWatch is the recognized global leader in providing clinical trials information to a broad and influential spectrum of clinical research professionals ranging from sponsors and CROs, to investigative sites, technology solutions and niche providers.
WIRB-Copernicus Group (WCG) is one of the world's leading providers of solutions that measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research.