Research Triangle Park gets new $3 billion life sciences firm with spinoff from Labcorp
Research Triangle Park added a new company Monday, as the life sciences firm Fortrea officially spun off from the clinical lab-services giant Labcorp.
With around 19,000 employees across 90 countries, Fortrea is known as a contract research organization, or CRO. It serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies by conducting clinical trials and providing additional services.
Last summer, the Burlington-based Labcorp approved separating its CRO division into its own business.
In February, Labcorp announced the name for its spinoff, and the same month, Labcorp told federal regulators this new entity would “increase agility with large pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients” and “implement a capital structure that is tailored to support its growth strategy.”
“Fortrea has been established to bring sharpened focus to our purpose, which is partnering with customers to bring life-changing therapies to patients faster,” Tom Pike, Fortrea chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement Monday.
Fortrea is headquartered near the Labcorp campus in South Durham, within the boundaries of Research Triangle Park. On Monday, it began trading publicly on the Nasdaq Exchange. As of midday, its total market capitalization was roughly $3 billion with its share price up more than 8% on the day.
Founded in 1978, Labcorp had a global workforce of approximately 80,000 people before the spinoff. Last year, its reported revenue approached $15 billion.
Under its separation deal, Fortrea will owe Labcorp around $1.6 billion in cash.
This story was originally published July 3, 2023 at 12:20 PM.
