Less than two years after its founding, American Clinical Research Services is undergoing a makeover.
The CRO will now be known as Elixia, according to a Tuesday announcement. The name comes from ACRS’ most recent acquisition, announced in early May, in which it scooped up the multi-specialty clinical research network Elixia for an undisclosed amount.
According to the company, the rebrand is meant to better represent its goals and abilities. The name Elixia evokes its mission to “accelerate the development of life-changing therapies and improve patient outcomes worldwide,” per the announcement.
“Rebranding to Elixia represents the unification of our diverse strengths under a shared vision,” said CEO Dustin Owen. “Our integrated approach and expanded reach uniquely position us to address the complexities of modern drug development. With Elixia, we are poised to make a profound impact on the healthcare landscape, driving innovations that bring new treatments to patients faster and more effectively than ever before.”
Elixia, a portfolio company of the healthcare private equity firm Latticework Capital Management, was formed in 2022 as American Clinical Research Services and spawned from the acquisition of clinical trials center Catalina Research Institute.
In the time since, the CRO has been on an expansion streak. In May 2023, it acquired a pair of companies both focused on trial recruitment: Clinical Site Services, which develops site-specific recruitment tools, and Patient Advertising Guru, a provider of creative development, media buying and referral tracking services to help support recruitment.
The Elixia buy was unveiled almost exactly a year later. Not only did it bring the company’s total number of trial sites to 12 but it also expanded its presence into Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan and Missouri; ACRS had previously only had locations in California and Texas. The newly added sites are focused primarily on nephrology, neuroscience and infectious diseases—adding to the original ACRS focus on metabolic health—and have been utilized by several Big Pharmas, with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly and Sanofi among those listed as past clients on Elixia’s website.