November 11, 2005–(SAN DIEGO, CA)—ComVest Investment Partners II LLC (“ComVest”) announced today the recent completion of leading a $10 million equity financing in IT&E International Group, Inc. (“ITE&E”) to be used to repay existing debt, accelerate the previously announced acquisition strategy and fund continued expansion.
Peter Sollene, the Chief Executive Officer of IT&E stated, “This infusion of capital allows IT&E to eliminate the existing $5 million senior convertible note, accelerate our acquisition strategy and move forward with an outstanding private equity firm like ComVest . In addition, IT&E has completed its acquisition of Millennix, a full-service CRO focused on oncology and infectious diseases. Millennix, based in Purchase, New York, offers a comprehensive portfolio of services for pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors engaged in Phase I through Phase IV clinical trials. Millennix’s customer base includes many of the major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the United States, and coupled with IT&E’s base business, will create a quality focused full-service CRO with a unique FDA regulatory compliance solution for the Life Sciences industry”.
Michael Falk, Managing Partner of ComVest said, “We have been strong believers in the opportunity to build a high quality mid-sized CRO through the combination of smaller well managed CRO’s with committed and satisfied customer relationships. We commend the IT&E team on identifying and concluding a quality acquisition like Millennix whose principals have excellent reputations and have committed themselves to the shared long-term vision. We look forward to working with the management teams of IT&E and Millennix and accelerating the execution of the overall strategy of building a best of breed, quality focused CRO.”
Gene Resnick, M.D., President & Chief Executive Officer of Millennix added, “Since its inception Millennix has been committed to providing the highest quality services to our clients. We believe that the combination of Millennix with IT&E will provide our team with the support necessary to continue our rapid growth, while maintaining our quality focus and our dedication to deliver superior service to our customers”.
About IT&E International Group
IT&E focuses on providing leading pharmaceutical companies with project-based consulting services in the areas of FDA Regulatory Compliance, data management, biometrics and clinical validation throughout the clinical trials lifecycle. The company, with its talented team of industry veterans with many years of biopharma experience, utilizes the latest tools and procedures to help its clients move quickly and effectively through the FDA approval process. Its services range from providing patients for drug trials, skilled personnel for trials, enterprise software and training to manage data and ensure FDA compliance and validation of new pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities to biostatistics support and analysis, audits, contract research services, data entry and verification services and providing total clinical solutions that take companies completely through Phase IV clinical trials. The company’s pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare and other life science client list includes such well-known companies as Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, Aventis Pasteur, Baxter Pharmaceutical, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiron, Eli Lilly, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Schering-Plough, VaxGen, and Wyeth Global. www.iteinternational.com.
About Millennix
Millennix is a full-service contract research organization providing clinical research services for Phase I-IV programs to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. With a particular focus in oncology, infectious disease and other complex disorders, MILLENNIX offers broad experience in strategic planning, trial design, site and patient recruitment, field monitoring, safety reporting and data management. MILLENNIX was founded in 1997 and is based in Purchase, NY. www.millennix-inc.com.
About ComVest
ComVest Investment Partners is a Leading Private Equity Investment Group focused on small to medium size businesses. The firm and its partners have diverse industry experience including working with financially and operationally distressed companies. Since our founding in 1988, ComVest has raised funds and invested over $1.5 billion of equity. The firm currently manages several investment portfolios totaling over $850 million in assets. Our offices are located in West Palm Beach, Florida and New York City, New York.