PRA Health Sciences

PRA Health Sciences

Trading name	PRA Health Sciences Inc.
Formerly called	PRA International
Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: PRAH
Industry	Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
Founded	Charlottesville, Virginia, United States (1976 (1976))
Headquarters	Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Number of locations	80+ countries
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Colin Shannon (President and CEO)
Number of employees	~11,000
Website	prahs.com

PRA Health Sciences is a Contract Research Organization with headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. The organization has worked on 100+ drugs marketed across several therapeutic areas and conducted the pivotal or supportive trials that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or international regulatory approval of 50+ such drugs.^[1]

History

PRA was founded in 1976 as the Anti-Inflammatory Drug Study Group in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. Renamed PRA in 1982, it established itself as a data-management Contract Research Organization (CRO). After a number of strategic decisions to enhance its service offerings, the company became PRA Health Sciences in June 2014, incorporating partnerships and acquisitions made throughout 2012 and 2013.

Key dates:

• 1976: Anti-Inflammatory Drug Study Group formed in Charlottesville, VA^[2]
• 1982: Company established as PRA, a Data Management Contract Research Organization (CRO)^[3]
• 1991: Services extended to Clinical Trial Management and Drug safety. First European office established
• 1996: Acquired by Carlyle Group and reached 333 employees^[4]
• 1997: Acquired IMTCI in Lenexa, Kansas, USA whose facility included a Phase I unit^[5]
• 1999: Acquired Valorum (UK) with Regulatory and Product Registration teams^[6]
• 2000: Acquired ARCAM, Paris, France.^[7] Reached 1,000 employee landmark
• 2001: Acquired by Genstar Capital^[8]
• 2002: Acquired Staticon in Madrid, Spain and CroMedica^[9] to increase CNS expertise and expand its global footprint
• 2004: IPO made PRA a publicly traded stock on NASDAQ. Acquired Valid-Trio, Moscow, Russia and ClinCare in Russia, Belgium^[10]
• 2005: Acquired GMG BioBusiness Limited in the UK and Regulatory/Clinical Consultants in the USA.^[11] Reached 2,500 employee landmark
• 2006: Acquired Sterling Synergy Systems in Mumbai, India and Pharma Bio research in The Netherlands which formed the basis for the group within PRA now known as Early Development Services^[12]
• 2007: Reacquired by Genstar Capital and returns to being privately held.^[13] Acquired Pharmacon in Berlin, Germany.^[14] Opened its 25th office and reached 3,300 employees
• 2008: Moves global HQ to Raleigh, North Carolina, USA^[15]
• 2010: Colin Shannon named CEO.^[16] Bioanalytical Lab in Lenexa, Kansas, USA opened^[17]
• 2011: Acquired Kinship Technologies in Chennai, India^[18]
• 2012: Entered into a joint venture with WuXi PharmaTech to offer a broad platform of services in China, Hong Kong and Macau.^[19] Opened facilities in Singapore,^[20] Utrecht, The Netherlands, Beijing, China and Belgrade, Serbia
• 2013: Reached 10,000 employee and 70 office landmark. Purchased by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), one of the world's leading Private Equity firms.^[21] Acquired ClinStar, a CRO/logistics firm providing services in Russia and Eastern Europe^[22] and RPS which later became the Strategic Solutions division of the company.^[3] Later in Nov 2013 acquired CRI Lifetree, a specialized research organization focusing on the conduct and design of early stage, patient population studies^[23]
• 2014: Renamed PRA Health Sciences to fully incorporate the companies within the PRA family, (RPS, CRI Lifetree, ClinStar and WuXiPRA). Launched a new website experience.^[24] PRA floats on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on November 13, 2014 under the ticker symbol “PRAH”^[25]

Contribution to clinical development

PRA Health Sciences (PRA) has worked to develop a variety of compounds, ranging from niche treatments and therapies to blockbuster drugs.

PRA has participated in several Clinical Trials of note such as the Landmark Alzheimer's Prevention Clinical Trial, a collaborative effort involving the Banner Alzheimer's Institute (BAI); Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; the University of Antioquia in Colombia; and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).^[26]

PRA were instrumental in supporting Gilead Sciences, Inc. with an FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation for Sovaldi (Sofosbuvir), which was approved by the FDA in December 2013. In addition, it was given a Notice of Compliance by Health Canada in December 2013, and granted Marketing Authorization by the European Commission in January 2014. Treatment is leading to higher cure rates and shortened, simplified therapy regimens for many Hepatitis C patients.^[27]

The organization has completed its 20th first in human trial with biologics. The milestone is the culmination of 600 subjects enrolled in over eight years of first-in-human biologics trials, including directly into patient experience.^[28]

Accolades

PRA Health Sciences was named "Best CRO in Asia" at the BioPharma Asia Industry Awards in 2013 and 2015.^[29]

In the 2013 PharmaTimes US Clinical Researcher of the Year competition it was named "Clinical Company of the Year" for the second year running, as well achieving awards in other categories such as "Project Manager of the Year".^[30]

The organization was awarded "International Clinical Company of the Year" at the PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year contest in 2014 and 2015. Several employees were also recognized in individual categories.^[31][32]

External links

• PRA Health Sciences website

References