Grant Avenue Capital Launches Helios Clinical Research

New Integrated Clinical Site Organization Led by World-Class Clinical Development Experts

Provides Greater and More Equitable Access to High-Quality Research

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Grant Avenue Capital, LLC (“Grant Avenue”), a middle market healthcare-focused private equity firm, today announced the launch of Helios Clinical Research (“Helios”), a new integrated clinical site organization that partners with patients, physicians, and biopharma sponsors to optimize clinical research. Helios operates 20 integrated clinical research sites that specialize in vaccines, metabolic, urology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, dermatology, oncology, and broader general medicine across four states, and expects to strategically expand its footprint throughout the U.S. over time. 

Helios’s sites support patients by engaging, educating, and providing them with a quality setting to participate in clinical research as a care option, as well as physicians by simplifying the clinical research process to enable them to focus on optimal patient care and data collection. In partnership with biopharma sponsors, Helios expedites the drug approval process, enhancing key delivery components such as study startup, patient recruiting and engagement, and regulatory and quality compliance.

Helios is led by a world-class team of clinical development experts with decades of proven operating experience and a track record of delivering value to clinical research stakeholders, including patients, physicians, and biopharma. The team includes:

• E.B. McLindon, Chief Executive Officer – Mr. McLindon brings substantial experience in managing, acquiring, and integrating clinical research sites, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Site, Patient and Decentralized Solutions at leading global Clinical Research Organization (“CRO”), ICON plc.
• Stephen DeCherney, MD, Chairman – A professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Dr. DeCherney was the former President of the Global CRO at Quintiles Transnational Corporation (now IQVIA), and has also held roles at National Institutes of Health.
• Natalie Gassen, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer – With nearly three decades of private and public company financial leadership experience, Ms. Gassen has served as CFO at Allucent (formerly Pharm-Olam), ApoCell, Inc., and Triad Resources.
• Sergio Armani, Senior Vice President and Head of Business Development – Mr. Armani has significant expertise managing business development activity and CRO sales across large pharmaceutical businesses, most recently serving as Vice President, North American Sponsor & CRO Partnerships-Review Services at Advarra.

Preston Brice, Partner at Grant Avenue, said, “We are launching Helios at a time when the need for a centralized solution to accelerate clinical research has never been greater.  By building Helios with best-in-class companies and bringing together individuals we view as the most talented and accomplished in the industry, we believe we are well positioned to deliver a highly optimized solution to patients, physicians, and sponsors. E.B. and Steve are proven industry veterans, backed by a first-rate team, and we look forward to supporting them as Helios executes on its mission of accelerating clinical research and increasing access to potentially life-altering treatment options.”

“The clinical research and development market is hyper-fragmented and requires significant innovation and advancement to best address the needs of patients, physicians and sponsors today,” added Mr. McLindon. “It is for these critical reasons that we created Helios, a company committed to reliably delivering high-quality clinical research data while using technology to streamline time-consuming research processes at the research site, in-turn providing a world-class experience for our patients and physicians. We are pleased to have the backing of Grant Avenue, well-recognized for supporting the growth of exceptional healthcare companies and whose values of truth, grit, teamwork, and community align with those of the Helios team.”

Dr. DeCherney concluded, “We have already formed an expert clinical development team that engages patients and sites across the U.S. to modernize the research experience and help sponsors recruit and retain patients. Looking ahead, we believe the stable foundation of Helios, coupled with the financial and operational support that Grant Avenue provides, will meaningfully differentiate Helios from its competitors and enable us to continue to scale for success long into the future.”

Lincoln International, LLC acted as the financial advisor to Grant Avenue on the formation of Helios.

About Grant Avenue Capital

Founded in 2019, Grant Avenue Capital is a healthcare-focused private equity firm investing alongside forward-thinking management teams seeking an experienced and innovative investor with operational insight and flexible growth capital. Based on underlying sector trends, the Firm pursues opportunities in the middle market, with a focus on companies with approximately $5 million to $25 million of EBITDA across healthcare sub-sectors, including Services, Devices, Pharma & Pharma Services and HCIT.  The Firm focuses on control buyouts, buy-and-builds, corporate carve-outs, joint-control partnership investments, and special situations. In addition, the Grant Avenue Foundation supports employees and portfolio companies of Grant Avenue Capital that are actively engaged with healthcare-oriented charitable organizations. For more information, please visit www.grantave.com/.

About Helios Clinical Research

Helios Clinical Research is an integrated clinical site organization that partners with patients, physicians and biopharma sponsors to optimize clinical research. Its world-class clinical development team engages patients and physicians to improve the patients’ research experience, while accelerating the sponsor’s ability to obtain valuable data due to Helios’ expertise in recruiting and retaining patients. Helios’ integrated clinical research sites expedite the drug approval process by focusing on key delivery components such as study startup, patient recruiting and engagement, and regulatory and quality compliance. For more information, please visit www.heliosclinical.com/.