Water Street Healthcare Partners and JLL Partners announced today that they have acquired THREAD, an innovative provider of technology that enables virtual research approaches to modernize clinical studies and registries. Headquartered in Orange County, Calif., THREAD will leverage the investment to accelerate the expansion of its global offering.
THREAD's platform and services are designed to make clinical trials and registries more accessible and less costly by replacing patient visits at investigator sites with technology-enabled interactions at more convenient locations, including patients' homes. Growing numbers of biopharma, life science companies, contract research organizations (CROs), and non-profit researchers are engaging THREAD's virtual research platform to capture clinical study data in between, as well as during or instead of clinic visits. The company's platform supports an integrated suite of user-friendly, highly configurable applications that support eConsent, ePRO/eCOA, patient engagement, telehealth virtual visits, site data capture, and medical device and consumer sensor connection.
"JLL and Water Street are the ideal partners for THREAD to accelerate our strategic expansion and solutions to our customers. Their life science expertise and resources will enable us to grow in a thoughtful way that will benefit all of our customers," said Jeff Frazier, founder and chief executive officer, THREAD.
John Reites, partner and chief product officer, THREAD, added, "We're excited to expand THREAD's platform to modernize clinical research for our customers, participants, and sites. This partnership will further our commitment to make virtual research approaches the standard in studies and registries."
Water Street and JLL will invest their combined industry experience and network of resources to further develop and expand THREAD's offering on a global scale. With this support, THREAD will extend its platform to offer customers a broader range of options that can be configured to address their individual needs by engaging components of its technology as standalone point solutions or activating its full suite of capabilities.
Mark A. Goldberg, M.D., a veteran life science leader who has been appointed executive chairman of THREAD, remarked, "THREAD's platform is highly valued for its user-centric design, flexibility, ease of use, and broad functionality. Working together with our customers, we have the exciting opportunity to advance the next generation of clinical trials to accelerate product development and innovation."
Last fall, JLL and Water Street invested in CATO Research, a company specializing in drug development support. Dr. Goldberg, who also serves as executive chairman of CATO, said, "There are many opportunities for THREAD and CATO to collaborate in developing emerging approaches to clinical development."
THREAD's leadership team will continue to spearhead the company's day-to-day operations, and report to Dr. Goldberg. Financial terms of Water Street and JLL's investment are not being disclosed.
About THREAD
THREAD is a virtual research platform used by biopharma, CROs, non-profit researchers, and life science organizations to capture global clinical study data in between, as well as during and instead of clinic visits. Study sponsors and CROs work with THREAD to provide a more modern and technology-enabled experience for patients, sites, and their study teams. THREAD's platform and supporting services are designed to help customers reduce study launch timelines and budgets with Virtual Visits. Visit www.THREADresearch.com for more information.
About JLL Partners
JLL Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with a 30-year track record of building and transforming businesses through its financial and operational expertise. Since its founding in 1988, JLL Partners has committed approximately $5.5 billion across eight funds. JLL Partners is a control investor and sources its deals from its deep network of industry contacts, applying its proven, value-oriented and growth-driven investment approach to provide limited partners with attractive risk-adjusted returns throughout all investment cycles. The firm is headquartered in New York. Visit www.jllpartners.com for more information.
About Water Street
Water Street is a strategic investor focused exclusively on healthcare. The firm has a strong record of building market-leading companies across key growth sectors in healthcare. It has worked with some of the world's leading healthcare companies on its investments including Humana, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and Walgreen Co. Water Street's team is comprised of industry executives and investment professionals with decades of experience investing in and operating global healthcare businesses. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. For more information, visit waterstreet.com
