Durham startup Velocity Clinical adds new exec, forecasts doubling in size by year-end

DURHAM – With plans to double in size by the year’s end, Velocity Clinical Research is adding to its executive team to keep up with its exponential growth.

Among the changes: appointing Melissa Holbrook, a former IQVIA senior executive and senior nurse practitioner at Duke Clinical Research Institute, as its new vice president of Operations.

She replaces Jeff Jensen, who has been promoted to senior vice president of Corporate Development – a role that will allow him to turn “his full attention to Velocity’s acquisition activity.”

Melissa Holbrook, VP Operations, Velocity Clinical Research. Source: LinkedIn

Founded by former Quintiles exec Paul Evans, the Durham-based clinical site organization has been on a shopping spree since its launch in 2017, and is pursuing a number of new acquisition targets before the year’s end.

“Our growth is being fueled by the fact that site delays are still the biggest problem facing new drug development,” Evans told WRAL TechWire. “Anything that seeks to address that successfully is going the get traction.

“We expect to be at least double the size we are now by the end of the year, with further growth in 2020,” he added.

The company has also hired a new director of Human Resources, expanded the finance team and partnered with an IT provider to help with onboarding new sites into Velocity’ centralized IT framework.

Flush with cash after raising more than $20 million in equity last year, the firm has already purchased four sites this year.

They include: a clinical research facility in Grant’s Pass, Oregon; Clinical Research Institute of Southern Oregon (CRISOR) of Medford, Oregon; New Horizons Clinical Research (NHCR) of Cincinnati, Ohio; and MD Clinical of Hallandale Beach, Florida.

To date, its corporate HQ in Durham now has 12 employees and a total headcount of around 70 across all the sites.

“That will increase of course as we add more sites,” said Evans.