BioAscent has topped the outsourcing category in the Alantra Pharma Fast 50 for the second year running. The annual report ranks the fastest-growing life sciences companies in the UK, based on revenue growth over the past two years.

BioAscent’s compound annualised growth of 81% over the past two years makes it the best performing CRO in this year’s Alantra Pharma Fast 50, as well as ranking second overall.

The report highlights that the sector’s drive for expertise shows no sign of slowing, which is leading to the continued rise in demand for CROs to provide the quality of service and experience needed to accelerate drug discovery programmes.

BioAscent has benefitted from a significant increase in its venture-backed biotech customer base, including a growing number of US customers. The stellar growth has been driven by its drug discovery business, which saw revenues rise by 60% in the past year, as well as a doubling of its compound management business over the past two years.

Paul Smith, CEO at BioAscent says: “We are delighted to be recognised as the fastest-growing CRO in the outsourcing category for the second year in succession. Growth has come from across the business with our drug discovery work accelerating especially quickly. This is underpinned by our compound management capabilities. BioAscent is a highly scalable business, and our core services are driving continued growth.”

He continues: “Customers choose to work with us based on the drug discovery expertise of our scientists.  We are heavily focused on recruitment to expand our team and have plans in place to further invest in our facilities and capabilities, as well as expanding our expertise in areas such as computational chemistry.”

BioAscent’s CCO, Mike Piper, adds: “We aim to provide a seamless set of services to deliver the best results possible to customers across the globe who are looking for an expert, advisory CRO. The US is a key focus area, and we are seeing real growth from what is quickly becoming a dominant market for BioAscent.”

The report featured in the March edition of the Pharma Times, and can be read here. The full Alantra Pharma Fast 50 report is now available and features an in-depth profile of BioAscent. To view the report, click here.