CRO Partner for Rare Disease Clinical Trials

Overcome the barriers in complex early phase trials with our bespoke services

We bring together the right expertise, infrastructure and operational resources to conduct your clinical trial

Experience matters in rare disease research. Take advantage of our agile team’s extensive experience in delivering clinical trials for rare conditions across multiple therapeutic areas. Our full-service solutions are tailored, adaptable, and designed to integrate closely with the specific needs of your patient, patient community, and study stakeholders.

Access our UK network of specialist research sites and centres of excellence

Delivering a clinical trial for a rare condition requires a nuanced, practical and integrated approach.

Our established partnerships with specialist NHS hospitals, UK Biomedical Research Centres and Clinical Research Facilities (CRF) enable us to quickly identify sites with the right experience in recruiting and retaining patients for your trial.

Accelerate your path to approval with our bespoke services:

  • People-focussed Study Design
  • Tailored Protocol Development
  • Expedited Regulatory Approvals (where applicable)
  • Multi-site Set Up and Initiation
  • Monitoring & Site Management
  • Project Management
  • Safety Management & Reporting
  • Statistics & Data Management
  • ISO Accredited Quality Management System
  • ATMP studies
  • Medical Device Studies

Why Sponsors prefer us, the smaller CRO

  • A better cultural fit
    As a smaller CRO we can act fast without excessive bureaucracy and genuinely dedicate ourselves to the shared success of your study.
  • Collaboration and transparency
    Working collaboratively as an extension of your team, we engage quickly to understand your requirements and identify the most efficient and effective delivery options for your study.
  • Diverse indications & study expertise
    We match the right experience and dedicated people to your trial bringing you valuable intelligence and experience from similar studies.
  • Defined patient recruitment strategies– We use innovative recruitment strategies, including global outreach, partnerships with patient advocacy groups, and social media campaigns to support your rare disease trial.
  • Adaptive trial design-We work with highly skilled bio statisticians and clinical teams to ensure the right trial design is selected. Due to the small patient populations, traditional trial designs may not be feasible. Adaptive trial designs, single-arm studies, or basket trials (where multiple diseases with similar biomarkers are studied) may be more appropriate..
  • Site Selection– We select and work with sites that have existing relationships with patient communities and expertise in managing the complexities of rare disease trials.
  • Quality Assurance
    GCP and ISO trained staff combined with our ISO certified Quality Management System ensure quality and compliance at every step.
  • Flexible costing model
    Our ‘pick and mix’ service model allows our Sponsors to benefit from a tailored service. Transparency is important to us, our detailed costing breakdown ensures expectations and deliverables on both sides are agreed from the start.

Our goal is to drive better outcomes for the sponsor and the patient

Highlights from some of our rare disease studies

OPTHALMOLOGY

Phase I Novel Treatment

One of the largest clinical studies of patients with Birdshot Uveitis (eye disease) in the UK running at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University Hospital Birmingham.

ONCOLOGY

Phase I Advanced Therapy Trial

A novel new treatment therapy INKmune, for patients diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome or Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

Read more

GENE TRANSFER

Phase I ATMP study

An open label dose-escalation study of a self complementary adeno-associated viral vector for gene transfer in patients with haemophilia B

IMMUNOLOGY

Phase I Rare Disease

Trialling Secukinumab, a monoclonal antibody that selectively targets interleukin-17A (IL-17A), a cytokine involved in the inflammatory processes underlying Behcet’s disease – a rare autoimmune disease

Read more

ONCOLOGY

Phase I/II Interventional

A new transplant pre-conditioning technique TRALA (Targeted Radiotherapy for AL-Amyloidosis) that may result in an improvement in the response rate posttransplant for S-ALA patients

Read more

FABRY DISEASE

Phase I-IV

Our in-house team has experience in running Fabry disease clinical trials in the UK and ROW. From our collaboration with the Rare Disease Research Partners and the MPS Society we can provide enhanced trial design for the sponsor, patients and sites.

Our sponsors enjoy working with us, and we do too

"The most collaborative CRO I've worked with. PHARMExcel bothered to know us as a client and understands our studies inside out, making it an efficient and friendly partnership."

Prof Mark Lowdell, CSO INmune Bio Inc

"PHARMExcel’s passion for their projects, the flexibility shown by the team, combined with direct access to the CEO, sets PHARMExcel apart from other CROs."

Daniel Green, Imperial College London

"It has been a pleasure working with Yvanne and the team. The personal approach and attention to detail have given us confidence to ensure patient safety and manage the risks of the Trust acting as Sponsor in particular for the early phase trials. "

Karen Underwood & Prof Saul Faust-Sponsor (OBE), Southampton Hospital

"The support from PHARMExcel has been extremely high quality. This includes all aspects trial development, management and monitoring, that was also evidenced by a recent sponsor audit. We look forward to working with PHARMExcel going forwards. "

Tom Fletcher, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Our Commitment to the Rare Disease Community

We are dedicated to advancing research and improving access to innovative therapies for individuals with rare conditions. We are excited to announce the expansion of our rare disease initiatives through new collaborations with UK-based research charities and non-profit organisations, including the MPS Society and Rare Disease Research Partners.

Our passion for supporting rare disease research is exemplified by our proud sponsorship of the Fabry Matters Research Grant. By leveraging our strengths as a CRO and partnering with research experts, local communities, healthcare professionals, patients, and their families, we aim to enhance trial experiences and accelerate the delivery of novel therapies to those in need.

Learn how PHARMExcel can accelerate your journey to approval