HiRO (Harvest Integrated Research Organization) is a full-service, globally oriented clinical research organization founded in 2020 that helps biotech companies run clinical trials across borders. Positioning itself as an 'integrated' rather than a traditional 'contract' research organization, HiRO connects Asian biotechs seeking trials outside their region with US and European sponsors wanting to run studies in Asia. Backed by a tens-of-millions-of-dollars Series A led by OrbiMed and built out through three CRO acquisitions, it offers end-to-end services from preclinical strategy to regulatory submission, with deep expertise in oncology and rare disease.
ClinChoice is a mid-size, global, full-service contract research organization (CRO) that helps pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and consumer health companies run clinical trials and bring drugs and devices to market. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, the firm employs roughly 4,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, offering clinical development, biometrics, safety/pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, post-marketing real-world evidence, and technology services. After rebranding from Fountain Medical Development (FMD K&L) in 2020 and raising a $150M Series E in 2022, ClinChoice has grown through acquisitions to serve six of the top ten pharma companies while focusing on emerging and mid-size biotech innovators.
John D. Balian, MD is a physician-turned-executive who co-founded ClinChoice, one of the world's larger full-service contract research organizations, and serves as its CEO, International. He spent years inside the FDA, then ran drug safety and regulatory operations at Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson before building a global CRO spanning the US, Europe and Southeast Asia. He is also a published novelist whose debut, Gray Wolves and White Doves, draws on his Armenian heritage and the Armenian Genocide.