The pan-European Contract Research Organization (CRO) brings together companies BlueClinical, Pharmalog, Popsicube, and Bioclever specializing in full-service clinical trials in the DACH regions.

By joining the capabilities of the four companies, Astrum immediately becomes a relevant player in the European CRO industry. In July 2022, Henko made its first investment in the CRO industry by investing in Barcelona-based BioClever. In July 2023, Henko additionally invested in Popsicube and its subsidiary MissionTEC, both based in France. 

Astrum’s objective is to become a comprehensive and trusted partner in clinical research, with a focus on delivery and client care. Astrum offers clients access to end-to-end services with extensive experience in the main European markets, as well as agility, reliability and an innovative approach to clinical trials including decentralized trials, digital tools, and adaptative designs.

The Astrum team consists of over 300 highly dedicated employees with scientifically sound education across offices in Munich, Barcelona, Paris, Porto, Madrid and Toulouse, including a hospital-based Phase I unit in Porto with 76 beds, for Phase 1/First-in-Human to Phase IV/NIS trials.

The pan-European Contract Research Organization (CRO) brings together companies BlueClinical, Pharmalog, Popsicube, and Bioclever specializing in full-service clinical trials in the DACH regions.

By joining the capabilities of the four companies, Astrum immediately becomes a relevant player in the European CRO industry. In July 2022, Henko made its first investment in the CRO industry by investing in Barcelona-based BioClever. In July 2023, Henko additionally invested in Popsicube and its subsidiary MissionTEC, both based in France. 

Astrum’s objective is to become a comprehensive and trusted partner in clinical research, with a focus on delivery and client care. Astrum offers clients access to end-to-end services with extensive experience in the main European markets, as well as agility, reliability and an innovative approach to clinical trials including decentralized trials, digital tools, and adaptative designs.

Astrum’s team consists of over 300 highly dedicated employees with scientifically sound education across offices in Munich, Barcelona, Paris, Porto, Madrid and Toulouse, including a hospital-based Phase I unit in Porto with 76 beds, for Phase 1/First-in-Human to Phase IV/NIS trials.

The organization aims to provide trial support throughout all clinical phases, from Phase I studies (leveraging BlueClinical’s Porto-based Phase I unit) to Phase IV studies. We will further grow our strong international team and maintain the high-quality standards of the unified companies that have long proven their clinical expertise and competence.

About Astrum’s companies

BlueClinical is a Portugal-based CRO that provides consultancy and full-service clinical trials, with a special interest on early clinical development. It has conducted over 200 Phase I clinical trials in healthy volunteers and special patients. BlueClinical operates in its own FDA-inspected Phase I unit. BlueClinical has conducted over 400 Phase I-IV studies conducted in its international network of clinical sites, in a wide range of therapeutic indications. It was founded in 2012. 

PHARMALOG is a Germany-based full-service CRO dedicated to clinical trials, non-interventional and pharmacoeconomic studies. As a business partner, PHARMALOG drives complete development programs as well as special trials in collaboration with partner institutes. It has completed more than 450 clinical trials for more than 80 companies in 10 countries, in medical devices, pharmaceutical products, ATMPs and biologics. Pharmalog was founded in 1983.

PopsiCube is a France-based CRO that offers end-to-end services for clinical trials. The company provides efficient clinical development services to clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries. PopsiCube’s team of experts offers services such as study design, site selection, regulatory affairs, project management, monitoring, and data management. Popsicube has 20 years of experience in Clinical Development.

BioClever is a Spain-based CRO that offers comprehensive support in clinical development, from study design to publication of results. It designs, conducts, monitors, and manages clinical trials and observational studies. BioClever has a wide portfolio of clients, certifications and publications [GV1] [JC2] of reference in Spain in recent years. The company is based in Barcelona and was founded in 2005. 

Jens Milde, Managing Director of Pharmalog, comments that “We are proud to be a part of this strong pan-European CRO with partners who share the same values in agility, reliability, and an innovative client-oriented approach for the planning, management and analysis of clinical studies. Entering and building Astrum is a milestone in our company’s history. It allows us at once to enlarge our geographical footprint in Europe. While keeping our trustful relationship to our valued customers, we can now offer international trials on a larger scale as a one-stop-shop solution”.

Luis Almeida, Managing Director of BlueClinical, added “The merger of BlueClinical with other CROs to create Astrum is strategically meaningful. It opens career developmentopportunities for our employees and significantly expands the range of services we can provide to our clients. There are a lot of synergies that can be explored and we are all excited for this great opportunity!”

“We are thrilled to launch Astrum and welcome the management teams of Pharmalog and BlueClinical,” said Lars Becker, partner at Henko. “We are convinced that by bringing together Pharmalog and BlueClinical together with BioClever and Popsicube, we have an excellent platform to serve pharmaceutical and biotech clients in Europe.”