Case Studies
For more information, click on a case study below:
Situation |
Two international ex-US CROs looking to build a commercial presence in the US |
Assignment |
Assess and define an operational go-forward plan for both CROs to expand into the US |
Accomplishments and Results |
CRO #1
- Built first “in-country” ECG cardiac safety lab for clinical trials in their home market
- Successfully attained US, EU and Latin American Regulatory approval for clinical trial lab in their home market
- Achieved year-over-year sales growth of 40%
- 300% increase in new clinical study wins in year 1 -> year 2
CRO #2
- Led acquisition efforts in the US and EU
- Secured strategic partnership agreements with two US academic research centers
- Established regional CRO partnerships in Australia, Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe
- Established US capabilities to drive marketing, brand awareness and sales efforts
|
Situation |
Mid-size, $30+MM US CRO with a strong business but poor financial performance |
Assignment |
Conduct a complete company assessment and offer recommendations to the Board of Directors on plan to return the company to profitability |
Accomplishments and Results |
- Conducted and completed a corporate wide due diligence effort over a 4-day period
- Submitted a report of findings and recommendations to the BoD within 48-hrs
- Joined the company at the request of the BoD to execute the proposed plan
- Plan included:
- 30% decrease in SG&A
- Redefine business strategy
- Orderly closure of two facilities
- Filing Chapter 11
- Restructuring the company
- Retained 100% of customers and venders
- Within 30-days, initiated three new work streams to move the company forward
- Within 90-days had signed LOIs and APAs from investors to purchase all or parts of the business
|
Situation |
Large global CRO; North American Operations >$270MM revenue, losing 20%; annualized staff attrition of >56% |
Assignment |
Conduct a complete assessment of the business unit; create and operationalize a plan to grow the business and return it to profitability |
Accomplishments and Results |
- Conducted and completed a corporate wide due diligence effort over a 30-day period
- Created a step-wise plan to correct major problems immediately while restructuring the core business
- Joined the company at the request of the BoD to execute the proposed plan
- Plan included:
- 30% decrease in SOPs
- Redefine operational staffing and line management strategy
- Restructuring the entire business unit
- Redefining performance metrics and reward mechanisms
- Creating new project staffing models
- Decreased annualize staff attrition to 12% within 12-months
- Increased revenue to $330MM in 18-months; becoming the most profitable Business Unit in the company
- Improved quality and customer satisfaction by 88% within 12-months
- Improved customer repeat business from 63% to 97% in 12-months
|
Situation |
Historically successful mid-tier therapeutic niche CRO with poor financial performance |
Assignment |
Develop a plan to return the company to profitability and position it for acquisition |
Accomplishments and Results |
- Grew annual revenue from $38MM to $58MM in 2-yrs
- Turned EBITDA from -$3MM to +$2MM in 2-yrs
- Rebuilt BD, Operations, Quality teams
- Sold company to a strategic buyer in a 90-day sale process
- Owner shares went from “under water” to a positive ROI
|
Situation |
Large global CRO wanted to create and launch two new services |
Assignment |
Develop a strategic business plan to create, launch and manage two new lines of business |
Accomplishments and Results |
- Conducted global market research to establish competitive landscape
- Created all business processes, marketing materials, develop both businesses
- BD team and hired a team globally to Established core business operative offices in the US, EU, South Africa, India, Singapore and Japan
- Launched both lines of business and grew them to $17MM in annual revenue in 2-yrs
|
Situation |
Parent company wanted to enter the CRO market |
Assignment |
Identify, acquire and merge 3 mid-tier CROs; re-launch an international CRO; position it for acquisition |
Accomplishments and Results |
- Identified three CROs for acquisition, 2 in the US, 1 in EU with operations in the US, UK, France, Croatia and Australia
- Complete acquisition and integration of all 3 CROs; re-launched a single re-branded international CRO
- Grew business 22% in 18-months with a contribution margin of 18%
- Successfully sold the business to a strategic buyer within 120-days
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2024 Investor Blogs
January- HC and Changing Talent Requirements
February- Attract and Retain
March- Organizational Health
April- VCPs and Diligence