Medical Research Network (MRN), the UK-based provider of home-healthcare and site-support services to boost patient recruitment and optimise subject retention in clinical trials, says its turnover in the 2011/2012 financial year rose by 40% on 2010/11 to £4,386,000.
Last year’s figure doubled compared with 2009/10, noted MRN, which started off in 2006 with turnover of around £400,000. The latest year-end result means MRN has shown a compounded annual growth rate of 47 % since inception.
In July 2012 the company reported “phenomenal” growth in its first five years of operations, with staff numbers expanding nearly five-fold over the same period.
During the 2011/12 financial year, MRN ran 34 projects across 19 countries and delivered more than 5,700 visits, peaking at over 600 in August, in reported.
The company also broadened its global partner network, so it now has the capacity to run projects in 47 countries overall.
Innovative and effective
“Home trial support is clearly becoming recognised as one of the most innovative and effective stimulants to clinical trial recruitment and the long-term retention of patients available,” commented Dr Graham Wylie, MRN’s chief executive officer.
“Pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations are searching for innovation much more aggressively than at any time in the past as the stresses and strains of clinical trial operations continue to build across the globe,” he added.
As well as supporting traditional clinical trials across all phases of development, MRN has been seeking out virtual and patient-centric study designs “with increasing frequency”, Wylie observed.
During 2012, the company launched its new MRN INNOVATION suite of tools, consisting of:
• MRN-SMART, a patient scheduling tool that uses a digital-pen capture facility to manage, report and track projects in real time;
• MRN-TEC, an interactive online portal offering study-specific and Good Clinical Practice training for nurses within MRN projects; and
• MRN-COMPLY, a quality and compliance system to ensure high standards of care across all global trials.
According to Wylie, the current sales pipeline “looks excellent, so we’re positive that 2013 will be another good year, despite the global recession that has hampered us all”.
