LINK Medical AS acquires Finnish clinical research service company CRST Oy.
CRST is a Finnish contract research organization (CRO) with almost 30 years of expertise in conducting first-in-human (FIH) and other early-phase clinical studies in healthy volunteers and patients. CRST was established in 1995 as a service unit of the University of Turku and was incorporated as an independent limited company in 2014. The company operates in Turku and Helsinki, Finland. The majority shareholder (51%) of CRST is UTU Holding Ltd., a holding company fully owned by the University of Turku.
CRST operates two state-of-the-art early phase clinics in Turku and Helsinki accessible to over 50% of the Finnish population. The main services include conducting first-in-human, phase I, bioequivalence, bioavailability and PK/PD studies within CNS, gastroenterology, metabolic, cardiovascular diseases and oncology. CRST’s clients consist of many leading Finnish and Nordic biotech and biopharmaceutical companies, as well as big pharma clients.
LINK Medical was founded in Oslo in 1995. and has a local presence in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the UK. LINK Medical is a leading Nordic CRO and regulatory service provider, offering a wide range of flexible expert services and innovative technologies for the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries across Northern Europe and beyond. As an international full service CRO, LINK Medical supports all stages of product development, from preclinical to marketing approval. LINK Medical has built a network of trusted partners worldwide to ensure global coverage. The acquisition of CRST fully aligns with the strategy of LINK Medical to strengthen our position in the Nordic market.
“CRST is a significant addition to LINK Medical, further strengthening the value we bring to our clients. By adding CRST’s extensive portfolio of Phase I/First-in-human services we can now offer a complete range of services for our early-phase clients, and we can partner with our clients from phase I, all the way through phase III. The acquisition of CRST will further strengthen our position as a leading Nordic full-service CRO and regulatory service provider.” says Anders Göransson, CEO of LINK Medical.
“Joining forces with LINK Medical gives us good opportunities to grow and expand our international CRO business together,” says Siru Helminen, CEO of UTU Holding Ltd. UTU Holding remains a minority shareholder in LINK Medical.
“I am extremely happy with the opportunities offered by the transaction. The synergies of the professional teams of both companies give us a solid platform to build our future business. Together, we are able to provide bigger comprehensive projects to our customers and help them to speed up the development of new treatments,” says Anne Marjamäki, Chairman of the Board of CRST.
The acquisition will not impact the current customer relationships, partnerships, or personnel at CRST or LINK Medical.
For more information, please contact:
Anders Göransson, CEO
anders.goransson@linkmedical.eu
+46 70 238 95 76
Reijo Kunelius, COO
reijo.kunelius@crst.fi
+358 400 601153
Anne Marjamäki
Chairman of the Board of CRST
Head of Business Development, University of Turku
anmamar@utu.fi
+358 40 565 8378
