CROs work with drug companies through all stages of the drug development process, from drug discovery and preclinical development to Phase I through IV post-approval work. With a material portion of that outsourced, the CRO industry has grown accordingly. So, there are strong secular tailwinds driving growth for the CRO industry, but to be a successful contract research organization, it helps to have global scale. With peer margins and peer multiples, Starboard sees this as a $47 to $72 stock. Elliott Management recently partnered with Patient Square Capital and Veritas Capital to acquire Fortrea peer Syneos Health Inc (SYNH) for $7.1 billion.

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Persons: Covance, Fortrea, Tom Pike, Pike, Elliott, Ken Squire Organizations: Fortrea, Labcorp, Development, Elliott Management, Square, Veritas Capital, Inc, pharma, 13D, Fortrea Holdings Locations: Covance, Labcorp, Fortrea