Medica acquires US-based RadMD, a leading Imaging Contract Research Organisation (iCRO).
Medica Group PLC is pleased to announce they acquired RadMD, a leading Imaging Contract Research Organisation (iCRO), headquartered in Philadelphia. Following on from the purchase of Global Diagnostics Ireland in November 2020 this acquisition represents a further diversification of customer base, geographical operations and an entry into the exciting Clinical Trials market.
RadMD was founded in 2006 by Dr Richard Patt and Dr Kohkan Shamsi who together have more than 40 years of combined expertise in imaging for clinical trials. RadMD employs 17 staff and contracts with over 250 clinical trial readers to provide high-value imaging expertise services. The company applies its considerable market experience together with advanced systems to reduce costs and improve efficiency in drug and device development to pharmaceutical/biotech and contract research organisations (CROs).
Dr. Stuart Quin, CEO of Medica Group said:
“In line with our strategy, Medica has been exploring ways in which we can harness our leading expertise in teleradiology to underpin diversification in other areas. We are pleased to deliver this with the acquisition of RadMD, which accelerates our ambition to provide radiological image reading for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. This acquisition provides entry into a new and exciting market for Medica with opportunities for growth and penetration in new markets and customers. Whilst RadMD serves different customers to Medica, the need to provide a highly specialised network of radiologists reading cases remotely, using excellent systems and supported by high quality clinical governance is akin to our existing core strengths and expertise. RadMD is a high-quality business strongly rooted in a passion for radiology and, as a result, many clients now trust the RadMD team to design and deliver important clinical trials to the highest quality standards.”
Founding partners and Managing Directors of RadMD, Dr. Kohkan Shamsi and Dr. Richard Patt, jointly stated:
“RadMD has been our focus for many years and we are confident that in Medica, we have found a partner to help the company to move to the next level and accelerate growth. Medica will help to support the operations and business strategy allowing us to devote more time to supporting clients and driving new opportunities for the combined company. Medica shares the same ethos in terms of delivering high quality services and we have been impressed by the commitment of the Medica team to help to accelerate the growth and evolution of our company and very much look forward to working together.”
About Medica Group PLC
Medica intends to lead the way in telemedicine and is the market leader in the UK and Ireland for the provision of teleradiology services, providing outsourced interpretation and reporting of MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computerised tomography), ultrasound and plain film (x-ray) images. In addition, Medica is the market leader for the provision of retinal diagnostic screening in Ireland where it also provides selective managed services in diagnostics to the public and private sectors
In the UK, Medica currently offers two primary services to hospital radiology departments:
– NightHawk, urgent reporting service, and
– Elective which includes routine cross-sectional reporting on MRI and CT scans, and routine plain film reporting on x-ray images.
Medica contracts with the largest pool of consultant radiologists in the UK and Ireland, performing remote access teleradiology across its customer base of more than 100 NHS Trusts in the UK, the Irish HSE, private hospital groups and diagnostic imaging companies. This enables the Company to offer a fast, responsive service both during the day and importantly supporting urgent out-of-hours reporting.
Medica has developed a bespoke, secure IT platform that provides market-leading linkage between a hospital’s Radiology Information System (RIS) and consultant radiologists who contract with the Company. Direct RIS access ensures that where the wider patient medical history is available, it can be reviewed by the consultant as part of every report. For more information please visit www.medica.co.uk
About teleradiology
Teleradiology is the remote electronic transmission of radiological patient images, including plain film (x-rays), CT scans and MRI scans, from one location to another for the purposes of diagnostic interpretation and reporting.
About imaging Contract Research Organisations (“iCROs”)
iCROs are experts in providing specific knowledge about medical imaging and its application in clinical trials. This includes expertise in imaging protocols, state-of-the-art image acquisition and analysis, data management and quality control.
Access to this knowledge is critical as medical imaging is a vital component of many clinical trials. It can be used to stratify patients to the most appropriate treatments and can allow early measurement of treatment efficacy. Standardisation of image acquisition across sites and a focus on quality control (QC) of images ensures that the required data can be obtained from the images. A central read (a process by which the image interpretation is not done by the local study site) minimises bias and subjectivity that might otherwise arise from the sponsor or study monitor’s familiarity with patients.
The reliability and reproducibility of image data interpretation is realised through consistent data review (using standardised grading protocols) and the use of two readers. High quality data means faster, more efficient trials that reach completion sooner.
Trials are typically managed by a CRO on behalf of a pharmaceutical or biotech sponsor and are often global. Radiologists, known as readers, have to be specially trained to be able to report imaging studies for clinical trials as this is conducted under Good Clinical Practice protocols.