US-based healthcare research organisation Elligo Health Research has raised $135m in a series E round backed by healthcare analytics software producer Cerner and contract research organisation Syneos Health.
The round was co-led by investment bank Morgan Stanley’s Expansion Capital unit and private equity firm Ally Bridge Group while Norwest Venture Partners also took part alongside existing investors Hatteras Venture Partners, Noro-Moseley Partners, Piper Sandler Merchant Banking and Shumway Capital.
Cerner and Syneos Health were also described as existing backers, however, it is unclear when Syneos initially invested in the company.
Founded in 2016, Elligo uses healthcare data to help connect patients to clinical trials within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and diagnostic products fields.
The company has already used some of the funding to complete the acquisition of ClinEdge, a US-based research practice management and clinical services organisation. It will also invest in its technology platform.
John Potthoff, chief executive of Elligo, said: “This commitment from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Ally Bridge Group and others will not only help us better serve our existing clients, but also empower us to expand our technology and services on a global scale.
“We will accelerate revolutionising the way clinical trials are conducted from pre-identification of patients through healthcare to study enrolment, conduct and study data delivery.”
Elligo received an undisclosed amount of funding from Cerner in December 2020, following a $20m series C round backed by Piper Jaffray Merchant Banking and existing investors in mid-2019.
The company took in $16m through a 2018 series B round co-led by Hatteras Venture Partners and Noro-Moseley Partners that also featured FS Healthcare, Excelerate Health Ventures and all the series A participants. It had raised $5.7m in that round from investors including Shumway Capital in 2017.