FHI Clinical Partners With IDRI to Provide Full-Service CRO Capabilities for COVID-19 Trials

FHI Clinical Inc. has announced it has partnered with Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based not-for-profit organization, to provide full-service contract research organization (CRO) capabilities for an immunotherapy clinical trial to combat moderate to severe cases of COVID-19.

IDRI recently announced it has received funding from New Jersey-based Celularity, a clinical-stage cell therapeutics company, to launch a clinical trial to investigate the use of Celularity’s NK cell therapy, currently under study for the treatment of various hematologic cancers and solid tumors, as a potential treatment option against the novel coronavirus.

In a recent interview, Dr. Corey Casper, CEO of IDRI, explained that the targeted therapy will “essentially be a way of giving patients the immune cells that are critical in fighting this infection.” Casper is hopeful this immunotherapy can be introduced to the market within a year, pending clinical trial success.

“When an outbreak like coronavirus occurs, new therapies and vaccines are vital and require rapid start-up of clinical trials,” commented Ted FitzGerald, FHI Clinical president and CEO. “Our extensive experience in past outbreaks and global epidemics positions us to lead a diligent, coordinated response while providing high-quality services in this rapidly evolving public health crisis.”

For more information on the importance of building research capacity in an outbreak setting, leveraging existing research capacity, and strengthening and localizing health systems, please refer to the FHI Clinical Outbreak Response Guide.