Chiltern: The CRO Future Is Mid-Sized

In remaining private, and neither aspiring to become--or to merge into--a global organization, nor interested in being a specialty CRO, Chiltern is bucking the trend of an industry which over the last decade has seen considerable consolidation at the top accompanied by a proliferation of much smaller niche players. The company's strategy of balancing customer-focused, cost efficient services with the ability to run pan-European/US clinical trials seems well-aimed to capture the business of the emerging and mid-size pharmaceutical companies that will likely be the most prolific source of new innovative drugs over the next decade.