Agroscience Services expansion in the US
Expansion in the US
Eurofins | Agrisearch began working in North America in 2006. The company rapidly established that the large multinational companies were already in the process of reducing their headcounts in order to maximise the cost effectiveness of their R&D budgets. It also became clear that the US contractor sector was relatively underdeveloped, in part due to the wider geography of the US but also because of regulatory and fiscal constraints which have discouraged single organisations from creating country-wide field study networks. It was obvious that there was a growing demand for large CRO’s that are capable of managing development programmes across the country. As a result Eurofins has announced the formation of a North American subsidiary (Eurofins | Agrisearch Americas Inc.). The company aims to adopt a partnership approach with its clients, based on its very successful European model.
“The US represents an exciting new market opportunity for us. With the structural changes to clients’ in-house R&D capabilities there is a substantial demand for outsourced regulatory field studies,” explains the project’s leader, Ian Greig. “By utilising the well established strategic and operational expertise of our European business, and Eurofins’ existing US infrastructure for financial and administrative support, we expect to operate substantially reduced overheads compared with any US competitors. This will allow us to concentrate our technical resources entirely on delivering regulatory research as cost effectively as possible”.The plan includes the creation of a nation-wide network of around five field study facilities in the key growing areas such as California, Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Illinois. Precise locations will, of course, be driven by customer requirements but the intention is to deliver a consistent service regardless of where the studies are conducted. The set up is likely to involve the acquisition of some existing CRO’s and the possible transfer of clients’ existing premises to the new organisation. “We need to provide sufficient capacity to conduct a significant number of field studies on behalf of local clients as quickly as possible,” adds Ian Greig.
Dr Stephen White, who joined Eurofins | Agrisearch at the start of 2006 to spearhead the company’s global development services, will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the business. He will also head up the new US Project Management group. Dr White has considerable experience of start up operations and the US contract research sector. He says: “During the early phases our primary aim will be to create an appropriate profile and reputation as a viable service provider. A critical success factor will be to establish credibility within the industry that we can deliver quality research in an economical and timely manner. Having in-house capabilities located across the US will allow us to offer clients the option of either a direct link to the field, or a single point of contact for pan-American programmes”.
Eurofins chief executive, Dr Gilles Martin, is equally enthusiastic about the new enterprise. “We already have a sizeable representation in North America, with a range of businesses offering laboratory services which include toxicology, analytical and bioanalytical chemistry and pharmacology testing to the agrochemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries. Expansion into regulatory field studies presents a compelling business case which I expect to add significantly to our US sales, already in excess of $40 million annually. With the experience and systems of the European Agroscience Services Team and Eurofins’ financial backing, we have the opportunity to provide a service to our US clients that has been available to their European counterparts for years”.
For further information, please contact Ian Greig