As the pandemic rages on and clinical trials are becoming increasingly siteless, eSource trial firm Clinical Ink has become an M&A target, being bought up this week by GI Partners.

Clinical Ink, which via its Lumenis platform captures and integrates electronic data from clinical sites, including those being done at patients’ houses, will now be owned by the investment firm.

But existing stockholder NovaQuest will continue on as a minority investor in the company, as well as Clinical Ink’s management team, which also “invested significantly in the transaction”, according to a release.

“GI Partners’ acquisition is a powerful validation of our eSource vision for clinical trials and will add to our growing momentum in the marketplace,” said Clinical Ink CEO, Ed Seguine. “We are the undeniable leader in delivering eSource solutions across all phases and therapeutic areas. This transaction will help accelerate the adoption of our business model at a time when the weaknesses and frailties of the current clinical technology landscape are so starkly apparent.

“I’m excited to work with GI Partners as we launch our latest innovations later this year and expand into Asia-Pacific and Europe to support our customers’ global operations.”

“We are proud to partner with a company as dynamic and transformational as Clinical Ink,” added Dave Kreter, managing director at California-based GI Partners. “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the industry’s timeline to put hybrid and decentralized trial technology into place.

“Clinical Ink has long been an eSource pioneer and we believe they are ideally positioned to lead this comprehensive improvement in the way clinical trials are conducted. The continued involvement of NovaQuest is a tremendous vote of confidence in the business and we look forward to building on their early successes.”