Thermo bids $8.9bn for clinical trial data firm Clario

Thermo Fisher Scientific has agreed to acquire Clario Holdings for nearly $8.9 billion, in a deal that would give it control of a widely used digital toolkit for managing clinical trial data.

Clario's platform is used to manage clinical trial endpoint data and, according to the company, has been used to support approximately 70% of FDA and EMA drug approvals over the past decade. It can be deployed in support of regulatory, evidence-based pricing, and reimbursement decisions, as well as R&D pipeline development, said Thermo Fisher.

The acquisition of Philadelphia-based Clario from its current private equity owners would mark a major expansion of Thermo Fisher's position in the clinical research category, which sits alongside its activities in analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, lab research tools, and manufacturing/processing equipment.

It is the largest healthcare private equity exit globally in 2025, with Thermo Fisher taking ownership of Clario from a shareholder group led by Astorg and Nordic Capital, Novo Holding, and Cinven.

Under the current owners, Clario has doubled its annual revenue to around $1.2 billion since 2020 and expanded its AI and digital capabilities, including the interpretation of data from medical imaging and wearable devices.

It has extended its portfolio with two acquisitions this year alone, bolting on imaging analysis specialist NeuroRx and WCG's electronic clinical outcomes assessments (eCOA) business, and serves more than 600 life sciences customers, including "all major pharmaceutical companies," according to Astorg.

Thermo Fisher is also on the hook for another cash payment of $125 million due in January 2027 and up to $400 million in earn-out payments, dependent on achieving various business milestones in 2026 and 2027.

"Clario is an outstanding strategic fit, enabling faster, more informed drug development through differentiated technology and data intelligence solutions," said Marc Casper, chair, president and chief executive of Thermo Fisher, which just reported a 5% rise in third-quarter revenues to $11.2 billion.

During the company's latest results update, Casper pointed to the benefits of leveraging its clinical research organisation (CRO) capabilities with the pharma services business and an ongoing collaboration with generative AI specialist OpenAI to "shave time and cost out for our customers" and accelerate drug development.

Clario CEO Chris Fikry said in a statement, meanwhile, that he expects Thermo Fisher's size and well-established relationships with life sciences companies to help drive an expansion of the company's clinical data platform. The deal is expected to complete in the first half of next year, subject to the usual closing conditions.