FFL Partners Completes Growth Investment in Johnson County Clin-Trials

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FFL Partners (“FFL”), a private equity firm focused on growth investments in Healthcare and Tech-Enabled Services businesses, announced today that it has completed an investment in Johnson County Clin-Trials (“JCCT” or “the Company”), a leading clinical research site platform serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and contract research organizations (“CROs”). Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

“JCCT has consistently demonstrated its prowess in executing clinical trials for sponsors. The founders have cultivated a business that not only achieves, but consistently exceeds patient enrollment targets, effectively addressing a major pain point within clinical trials," stated Karen Winterhof, Partner at FFL. “The prospect of collaborating with the founders and harnessing our collective experience to propel JCCT into a position of leadership within this fragmented sector is truly exciting.”

Headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, JCCT specializes in Phase I – IV clinical trials, encompassing both healthy volunteers and special populations. Since its inception in 2005, the Company has successfully concluded an impressive number of approximately 300 clinical trials, engaging over 15,000 study participants. JCCT has excelled on patient engagement and data integrity, enabling its sponsors to conduct high-quality and cost-effective clinical trials.

"Our collaboration with FFL infuses substantial resources that will power the expansion of our footprint, and we’re confident this investment will invigorate our patient recruitment endeavors and expedite our growth trajectory,” said Nathan Arthur, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of JCCT. “We're eagerly anticipating the positive impact this partnership will have on expanding and enhancing the services we offer to our pharmaceutical sponsors and CROs."

"With FFL's support, we are enthusiastic about our ability to pursue strategic M&A transactions within the fragmented clinical research site sector,” added Mazen Zari, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of JCCT. “We are eagerly looking forward to joining forces with other high-caliber research sites in the future. JCCT and future sites will continue with the unwavering commitment to providing sponsors with high-quality data and delivering exceptional care to our study participants."

In conjunction with this recapitalization, Jeanne Hecht, CEO & Founder of JTH Consulting, is set to assume a role on the JCCT Board of Directors, further fortifying the leadership team.

"We're excited to partner alongside Nathan, Mazen, and the entire accomplished team at JCCT,” added Chris Harris, Managing Partner at FFL Partners. “FFL's established track record of collaborating with founders to elevate and expand their enterprises positions us perfectly to contribute to JCCT's accelerated growth trajectory."

About FFL Partners

FFL Partners is a leading middle-market private equity firm that has been investing in high-quality companies since 1997. Based in San Francisco, FFL is a hyperspecialized, thematic investor focused on targeted areas within Healthcare and Tech-Enabled Services, two complementary sectors in which the firm has deep expertise and broad networks. FFL employs a proprietary sourcing and value creation strategy called the Sector Exploration and Expertise Development (“SEED”) process. The firm aims to partner with exceptional management teams and employs a high-engagement approach to accelerate growth at its businesses. FFL currently has over $5 billion of cumulative capital commitments. For additional information, please visit www.fflpartners.com

About Johnson County Clin-Trials

Johnson County Clin-Trials (“JCCT”) has been providing clinical research services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and contract research organizations (“CROs”) since 2005. JCCT specializes in Phase I – IV outpatient/inpatient clinical trials, encompassing both healthy volunteers and special populations trials and First-In-Man studies. JCCT has helped pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the development and approval of 23 new or improved drugs/vaccines brought to market, including those funded by the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID). In the decade prior to 2005, all founders and staff were actively involved in clinical research. This accumulation of experience and knowledge is the foundation of our success which is passed onto our sponsors, assuring successful study conduct. For more information, please visit www.jcct.com/