Thermo Fisher Scientific is breaking out the big bills to score a clinical research treat. With $8.875 billion in cash, the life science giant is adding Clario Holdings to its goodie bag, the company announced on Oct. 29.
Thermo has also agreed to tack on $125 million in January 2027, the company said, and up to $400 million in earn-out payments in 2026 and 2027, depending on business performance.
Clario has a platform that helps trial sponsors collect, manage and analyze clinical data. The tech has been used in support of roughly 70% of FDA drug approvals over the last decade, according to Thermo Fisher’s release.
“Clario is an outstanding strategic fit, enabling faster, more informed drug development through differentiated technology and data intelligence solutions,” Marc Casper, Thermo Fisher’s president, CEO and chairman, said in the release. “By adding these high-growth capabilities, we will deliver even deeper clinical insights to our customers and further accelerate the digital transformation of clinical research.”
Thermo expects the deal to close by the middle of next year, at which point Clario will be folded into the company’s Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services division. This division also includes contract manufacturer Patheon, which Thermo acquired in 2017 in a deal valued at $7.2 billion.
The Clario buy fits into Thermo’s overall growth plan, with the Massachusetts-based company recently reporting that third-quarter sales were up 5% year over year.
In an Oct. 22 statement about the Q3 earnings, Casper said he was “very pleased with the progress we made executing our strategy—launching outstanding new products, completing complementary acquisitions and collaborating with OpenAI to accelerate scientific advancement.”
Thermo expects Clario’s business will grow in the high single digits under its ownership, according to the release. The company believes that by adding Clario's capabilities to its own, it can unlock $175 million in synergies, mostly on the revenue side of its balance sheet.
“This strategic transaction will power the continued expansion of Clario’s differentiated digital endpoint platform and proprietary suite of AI tools,” Clario CEO Chris Fikry, M.D., said in the release. “We are certain this will benefit our clients and, ultimately, patients.”
Clario has been deal hungry itself in recent years, snatching up neuroscience imaging specialist NeuroRx, the neuroscience-focused eCOA business of WCG and AI software developer ArtiQ.