Bionow

Clinical Trials, Tissue Banks & CROs

The region is particularly strong at the academic and clinical research interface. With a population of around 7million people and a diverse ethnic mix, the region boasts recruitment rates second to none in the UK.

A number of research hospitals are located in the region providing a unique resource. This is complimented by industry expertise forming a group of companies able to address all stages of clinical trials.

TrusTECH - TrusTECH has developed and administers the ACTNoW database - a 'one stop shop' for those wishing to place clinical trials in the North of England.

Liverpool Clinical Trials Centre housed by The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust. The centre oversees clinical research on potential anti-obesity compounds and deals with all local and national codes of safety and ethics. The centre also includes The Kissileff Laboratory, specifically designed for the study of human ingestive behaviour.

The University of Liverpool Cancer Research Centre and institute of Cancer Studies. The ULCRC is undertaking a wide range of research into cancer, as well as training scientists and health workers. The University is already internationally renowned for its research work in the areas of gastric, colon, pancreatic, breast and lung cancer. Partners include: Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology and the NW Cancer Research fund. The Centre was awarded UK Cancer Research Status in 2009.

Manchester Academic Health Science Centre – One of only 5 in the UK, the Centre's vision is to be a leading centre nationally and globally for the uptake of innovative applied health research and education into healthcare. Their strategy is to assess unmet health needs, build practice and measure the results of what is done at the centre. Member organisations are The University of Manchester, Central Manchester University Hospital, The Christie, Manchester Mental Health, Salford and Salford Royal Hospital and the University Hospital of South Manchester.

Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University NHS Trust - The trust was created to bring together six local hospitals into one point of access and is the site of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility.

Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility - This is a development between the Wellcome Trust and University of Manchester, creating a state-of-the-art clinical trials centre and providing resources such as trained research nurses.

The Christie Hospital NHS Trust - This is the largest cancer treatment centre Europe and second in the world only to MD Anderson. The trust also has extensive clinical trials facilities - and cancer tissue bank.

The region is home to two of the six co-ordinating centres of the UK Clinical Research Network, which are designed to address clinical research in specific disease topics. Manchester is the co-ordinating centre of the UK Mental Health Research Network which was established to provide the NHS infrastructure for clinical trials addressing mental health and social care. Liverpool is home to the Medicines for Children Research Network Co-ordinating Centre based at the Institute of Child Health at the Royal Children's Liverpool Hospital, leading the evaluation of drugs for use with children.

The Northwest is the only region to be successful in providing local area networks (LANs) for all of the UK CRN therapeutic centres.

CIGMR - Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research based at the University of Manchester, is a comprehensive facility for the analysis of complex diseases by combining epidemiological, statistical and genetic approaches. Concentrating on the analysis of inflammatory, infectious, autoimmune and neurocognitive phenotypes, it offers services such as advice on genetic study design, ethics, committee applications, bioinformatics, data analysis and comprehensive in-house laboratory services for clinicians and research scientists wishing to pursue genetic approaches to understanding complex traits.

Icon Development Solutions - formerly Medeval specialises in supporting early phase clinical trials, as well as analytical services at its facilities in Manchester.

Smerud - Smerud Medical Research is a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) specialising in proof-of-concept clinical trials and pivotal regulatory trials (phase IIb and III).

Synexus Ltd - This is Europe's largest Site Management Organisation (SMO), managing clinical trials for the pharmaceuticals industry.

Trial Form Support - Are a full service Contract Research Organisation dedicated exclusively to clinical drug development process.

Catalent - With two sites in the region, this company provides specialist clinical trials packaging, storage and distribution for the lifetime of a trial.

Clinical Development & Support Services (CDSS) - CDSS provide a wide range of clinical development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. They are a clinical research organisation (CRO) specialising in Phase I to IV clinical trials, and in the provision of monitoring and contract research nursing services.

The Clinical Trial Company - a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) for medium size clinical trials and novel products which lack a classical road map to the market. The company corporate structure facilitates commercial efficiency and cost effectiveness in helping bring clients' products to market. Where possible, traditional 'one size fits all' lengthy approval routes are replaced with pragmatic real-life planning without risk to long term success.

NIBHI is a collaborative venture between the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Central Lancashire (UCLAN), Salford, Liverpool John Moores University (JMU) and AstraZeneca. The central mission of NIBHI is to facilitate the application of Bio-Health Informatics theory into practice and to ensure that Bio-Health Informatics research is informed by the needs of the biological and clinical research communities and those of the regional pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector.

Institute of Medicine, Law & Bioethics (IMLAB). IMLAB is a unique collaborative venture established in 1995 between the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester, Keele, Lancaster and Central Lancashire, bringing together a wide range of research interests in the fields of medicine, law and bioethics and providing an inter-disciplinary focus for research and education on the interface between medical ethics and the law.

NICE – based in Manchester, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health.

Medicines Evaluation Unit (MEU) - The MEU specialises in performing clinical trials (from Phase I to IV) in respiratory / inflammatory medicine and related areas. With the company's position within hospital premises it has the advantages of specialist equipment and ITU access availability, and is therefore ideally suited to perform early phase exploratory studies.