Parexel International has acquired Heron Group, a life sciences consultancy that provides commercialization services for biopharmaceutical companies, in an up to $38.2 million deal intended to capitalize on the industry shift toward demonstrating the economic as well as clinical value of new drugs.

The global biopharma services organization has agreed to pay $24 million up-front, plus a possible additional $14.2 million over 26 months tied to achieving specific, undisclosed financial targets for Heron. Parexel used existing cash to fund the Heron acquisition.

“The acquisition of Heron further strengthens our ability to offer our clients a full spectrum of services that aid in developing products with reimbursement and market access in mind,” Josef von Rickenbach, Parexel’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

Parexel advises companies seeking to speed their time-to-market and increase their peak-market penetration through commercialization services that include drug development and regulatory consulting, clinical pharmacology, clinical trials management, medical education, and reimbursement.

With the Heron acquisition, Parexel now has about 14,400 employees worldwide, and operations in 78 locations throughout 52 countries worldwide.

Heron expertise and methodologies span a range of services that include strategic market access planning, systematic reviews, economic modeling and evaluation, pricing, reimbursement strategies, global value dossier writing, and engagement with health technology assessment authorities.

Founded in 1999, Heron works with more than 50 biopharmaceutical and life sciences companies globally.  Heron employs about 140 people and is headquartered in Luton, U.K., with additional offices in India, Sweden, and the U.S.

“We are pleased to be able to expand the expertise of our commercialization offering and believe that Heron will help to enhance the portfolio of services that we provide through our Parexel Consulting,” John Kerrigan, one of the founders of Heron and the new corporate vp and worldwide head of Heron at Parexel, said in the statement.

Parexel announced its acquisition of Heron yesterday, the same day it raised its guidance to investors on revenue and both GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share for its fiscal year and calendar year 2013, all to reflect the deal. Parexel now says it expects FY 2013 revenue to range between $1.72 billion and $1.73 billion, up from the previous guidance of between $1.695 billion and $1.71 billion. For calendar year 2013, Parexel offered investor guidance of $1.82 billion to $1.85 billion in revenues, up from $1.78 billion to $1.81 billion.

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