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September 29, 2025
Rovia Clinical Research Announces Acquisitions of StudyMetrix Research and Coastal Research Institute
Southlake, TX: September 29, 2025 – Rovia Clinical Research (“Rovia”) is excited to welcome two dedicated clinical research sites – StudyMetrix Research (“StudyMetrix”) in the St. Louis Metro Area, Missouri, and Coastal Research Institute (“CRI”) in Fayetteville, North Carolina – to its growing network of clinical research sites. StudyMetrix’s founder, Dr. Tim Smith, and CRI’s founder, Dr. John Poulos, each bring over 30 years of clinical research experience to Rovia and enhance Rovia’s capabilities in the obesity, hepatology, gastroenterology, pain, and internal medicine spaces, all while sharing Rovia’s unrelenting commitment to patient centricity and clinical quality.
Rovia CEO Patricio Casillas highlighted the strategic importance of the acquisitions, noting “Dr. Smith and Dr. Poulos, and their research teams, bring extensive experience, great reputations and a shared passion for advancing research in their underserved communities. We are excited for our shared futures and intend to support an expansion of research access throughout their geographies.”
The acquisitions of StudyMetrix and CRI were funded by a growth investment from Gauge Capital, Rovia’s current financial sponsor, and debt and equity financing from Fidelity Direct Lending. David Friedman, Partner at Gauge Capital, noted, “We are thrilled to be adding such great sites to the Rovia network and are excited about Rovia’s next chapter of growth.”
Rovia Clinical Research is a US-based multi-specialty clinical research site network that partners with healthcare providers, pharmaceutical, biotech, and contract research organizations worldwide. Rovia facilitates clinical trial delivery while providing exceptional service levels, including study start-up speed, enrollment target achievement and data quality. The company's quality-focused, integrated research services for new drugs, devices, and diagnostic studies are designed to offer improved access and new hope to patients from diverse communities. With 14 locations and 80 investigators across its network, Rovia aims to continue expanding through acquisitions and strategic partnerships across the United States.
Rovia CEO Patricio Casillas highlighted the strategic importance of the acquisitions, noting “Dr. Smith and Dr. Poulos, and their research teams, bring extensive experience, great reputations and a shared passion for advancing research in their underserved communities. We are excited for our shared futures and intend to support an expansion of research access throughout their geographies.”
The acquisitions of StudyMetrix and CRI were funded by a growth investment from Gauge Capital, Rovia’s current financial sponsor, and debt and equity financing from Fidelity Direct Lending. David Friedman, Partner at Gauge Capital, noted, “We are thrilled to be adding such great sites to the Rovia network and are excited about Rovia’s next chapter of growth.”
Rovia Clinical Research is a US-based multi-specialty clinical research site network that partners with healthcare providers, pharmaceutical, biotech, and contract research organizations worldwide. Rovia facilitates clinical trial delivery while providing exceptional service levels, including study start-up speed, enrollment target achievement and data quality. The company's quality-focused, integrated research services for new drugs, devices, and diagnostic studies are designed to offer improved access and new hope to patients from diverse communities. With 14 locations and 80 investigators across its network, Rovia aims to continue expanding through acquisitions and strategic partnerships across the United States.
About Rovia
Rovia Clinical Research is a multi-specialty, clinical research site network with 18+ years of experience. It operates a hybrid model of freestanding and physician embedded sites. Across its 14 sites and 80 investigators, Rovia’s core research focus includes endocrinology, obesity, cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, ophthalmology and infectious disease. Rovia has a proven history of enrolling patients with best-in-class retention, rapid study-start up and high-quality data. The network is a preferred partner to leading global pharma and biotech customers.
About Gauge Capital
Gauge Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in Southlake, Texas. Gauge invests in five key sectors: business services, food & consumer, government & industrial services, healthcare, and technology. The firm manages more than $3.0 billion in capital. For more information, please contact Chris Garvin, Principal, Business Development at cgarvin@gaugecapital.com.