Richmond Pharmacology Ltd is a UK-based contract research organization (CRO) specializing in early-phase clinical trials. It was founded in 2001 by Jorg Taubel and Ulrike Lorch.
Overview
Richmond Pharmacology is a private company headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom. It operates within the pharmaceutical industry as a contract research organization, offering services that include consultancy, regulatory applications, data management, pharmacy, laboratory services, and drug-free plasma. The company employs between 51 and 200 people.
Operations
The organization conducts early-phase clinical trials on behalf of pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs, as well as carrying out clinical research of its own design and funding. As of 2015, Richmond Pharmacology was one of fourteen UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) accredited Phase I units, conducted approximately 10% of all Phase I trials conducted in the UK, and had about 100 employees. It conducts research at a single site in London Bridge, formerly known as Guy's Drug Research Unit. The company has been involved in over 500 studies and has pioneered work in gene editing clinical trials.
Legal Cases
In May 2015, Richmond Pharmacology prompted a judicial review to prevent new rules from the UK Health Research Authority (HRA) from being implemented. The new rules mandated that all drug companies and CROs in the UK register all clinical trials before the first participant is recruited, declare who sponsored the study, and publish the outcome of studies—not only for future trials but for trials already approved and underway. These rules were supported by advocates for greater transparency in clinical research, notably the AllTrials campaign.
After Richmond filed suit, the HRA amended the rules to remove the requirement to register trials that were already underway. Richmond's suit was narrowed several times as it proceeded and eventually focused on whether the retrospective application of transparency regulations to trials registered and approved before September 2013 was based in law. The court ruled that while the HRA had the right to impose such rules, they were not based in law as the HRA had stated. The HRA paid £75,000 to cover part of Richmond's legal costs.
