BioWorld International Correspondent

PARIS - Hesperion Ltd., a Swiss clinical development services firm owned by Paris-based Cerep SA, acquired the American contract research organization Touchstone Research Inc. for a cash consideration of up to $10 million.

Hesperion, which is based in Basel and was taken over by Cerep in January 2004, has paid $3 million up-front for Touchstone Research, of Gaithersburg, Md., and will make additional cash payments of up to $7 million over the next two years, subject to achieving certain milestones and based on earn-out clauses and the retention of key Touchstone staff.

Hesperion already owns 100 percent of outstanding shares in Touchstone Research, and the combined company will operate under the Hesperion name. Hesperion has been conducting research studies in North America since 1999, and in early 2005 opened an office in Seattle. The company said that its acquisition of Touchstone Research is designed to strengthen both its geographical coverage in North America and broaden the range of services it offers.

Touchstone Research was founded in 1997 (when it was known as Clinical Cardiovascular Research LLC) and manages all phases of clinical trials of drugs, devices and biologics in cardiovascular and other fields. It employs 30 staff and has generated annual revenues of $5 million to $6 million over the past three years.

For its part, Hesperion is specialized in cardiology and oncology, and provides a variety of clinical development services under long-term partnerships with various pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. It has offices in five other countries besides Switzerland and the U.S., namely France, the UK, the Netherlands, Israel and Poland.

Touchstone Research's executive vice-president and general manager North America, Bill White, is to become executive vice-president and chief scientific officer of Hesperion North America. In June this year, Michael Gleeson was appointed general manager of Hesperion, North America.