AbC.R.O.

April 2003
OPIC financing will enable a U.S. small business to expand its clinical research services in eastern Europe, easing access to state-of-the-art medicines for local populations and raising the quality of health care in the region. (OPIC press release)

When MBA Dana A. Leff and registered nurse Christa Pleasants established AbC.R.O. in 1999, it was in time-honored U.S. small business fashion: they identified a market niche and marshaled their resources to exploit it. As the company website states, “AbC.R.O. represents a new approach to patient recruitment for clinical research. As a niche provider with a geographic focus, AbC.R.O. offers financial advantages that offset the escalating costs of clinical research.”

AbC.R.O., a Virginia-based clinical research organization (CRO), runs clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registration for their medicines.

AbC.R.O. chose eastern Europe to conduct its research because patients could be enrolled more quickly there, thereby reducing development costs for the pharmaceuticals.

The company’s work devolves benefits to hospitals in the region, too. By installing state-of-the-art computer technology at the trial sites – typically university hospitals that double as research institutes – and training local doctors, AbC.R.O. improves their medical infrastructure measurably, keeping them at the cutting edge of research and trial methodology. Trial participants receive free medical care, as well.

Obtaining financing for their young company was not so straightforward, however.

“As a U.S. company operating overseas, it was very difficult to find financing just a few years ago; by virtue of our location in eastern Europe, it was nearly impossible,” recalls Leff. “Now it’s a different story – there is more interest in the region and the sector, and you find private equity groups, investors, coming in with financing. At the time, however, traditional lenders wouldn’t lend to us.”

Fortuitously for AbC.R.O., Leff’s partner Christa Pleasants attended the Southeast Europe Economic Forum in Bulgaria in October 2002. There, through a mutual contact with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, she met OPIC senior investment officer Bruce Cameron. Within six months, AbC.R.O. had an OPIC commitment for a $300,000 direct loan – one of the first to be processed by OPIC’s Small Business Center.

“The OPIC loan process was easy and thorough, and Bruce was very helpful throughout. The legal part of the process was more complicated, but overall it went very smoothly,” Leff said.

“More importantly, what OPIC’s loan did was give our company a level of credibility in the region that was very valuable to us. It really helped to establish us,” she added.

Since then, AbC.R.O. has conducted clinical trials for medicines designed to treat several types of cancer, as well as cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, strokes, diabetes and other conditions, testing both their safety and efficacy. Among its achievements are successful ‘pivotal studies’ – main trials submitted for FDA approval – for drugs treating pneumonia and multiple myeloma.

Promoting the growth of U.S. small businesses like AbC.R.O. in emerging markets such as eastern Europe is at the heart of OPIC’s mission. Equipped with financing and political risk insurance they would not obtain otherwise, OPIC-supported companies enable local economies to grow as a direct consequence of American free market  ingenuity, and their citizens to benefit in a variety of ways.

June 2006
AbC.R.O., a Connecticut-based clinical research organization (CRO), has used the $300,000 OPIC loan to establish an office in Belgrade, Serbia; increase its regional staff size from 20 to 60; upgrade equipment in its offices in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania; conduct clinical trials on potential drugs for treatment of cancer, pneumonia, strokes, cystic fibrosis and diabetes, among other diseases; improve the technological infrastructure of hospitals in eastern Europe; and train local doctors in the latest methods of clinical research.