Scoop: Clinical trial tech company Medrio preps sale

Medrio, an e-clinical tech company backed by Questa Capital Management, is gearing up what could be a $600 million-plus sale, sources tell Axios.

Why it matters: Clinical trials are complex and managing data is overwhelming. Medrio's technology helps pharma companies and CROs accelerate study timelines and run them more efficiently.

What's happening: William Blair is engaged in a sale process that is expected to launch this month, sources say.

• The company is generating $6 million of EBITDA on $60 million of revenue, with the process targeting 10x-plus revenue, they say. That translates to a potential $600 million-plus valuation.
• Medrio is viewed as a SaaS business, though less than a quarter of revenue is SaaS revenue, one source notes.

How it works: The San Francisco-based company provides an electronic data capture (EDC) system, or software that stores and centralizes all patient data that is collected throughout clinical trial studies.

• Various decentralized trial tools integrate with its EDC software to simplify workflows for clinicians and patients.
• That includes electronic patient-reported outcomes, electronic consent, direct data capture, randomization and trial supply management (RTSM).
• The company says it has assisted with 5,500 studies, encompassing 975,000-plus participants across 36,000-plus sites.

State of play: Medrio focuses on the early stages of trial processes (Phase 1 and Phase 2), and those that tend to be smaller and less complicated.

• That means it doesn't really go head-to-head with players like MediData, Signet, Clario, Clinical Ink and others, one source notes.
• The likely buyer? "A middle-market sponsor who wants to buy-and-build in the eClinical space," another source speculates.

Flashback: In May 2017, Medrio raised $30 million in venture funding led by Questa Capital and Think +.

• Medrio since that time has made two acquisitions — HMD Clinical and DFS Pharma.

Questa declined to comment, while Medrio and William Blair didn't return requests for comment.