Chesapeake IRB and Schulman IRB, two respected institutional review boards (IRBs), have combined to create Advarra, a premier provider of IRB, institutional biosafety committee (IBC) and research compliance services in North America. The new organization will leverage mutual strengths in technology, regulatory expertise and customer service to serve the increasingly complex needs associated with research.

“By coming together as Advarra, we are merging the highest quality review organizations in the industry,” said Jeffrey Wendel, president and CEO of Chesapeake IRB. “Through a customer-centric integration we will be able to provide additional scope and capacity while maintaining the highest standards of research review and unparalleled efficiency. We are delighted to come together with a like-minded organization that places the same emphasis on integrity and quality.”

“We are tremendously excited about this strategic combination that will allow us to further develop and accelerate innovation across our portfolio of IRB services, IBC services and research compliance consulting,” said Michael Woods, president and CEO at Schulman IRB. “This also enables us to leverage our mutual technology capabilities and robust regulatory expertise to speed study start-up. Together, we are even better positioned to deliver unparalleled human subject protection and oversight with exceptional client service.”

The combined regulatory expertise and technology-enabled solutions of Chesapeake IRB and Schulman IRB will also further support and advance service offerings to academic medical centers and hospital systems, especially in light of recent regulatory mandates for single IRB review.

“By leveraging the best attributes of our respective organizations, we will provide a singular focus on increasing the efficiency and delivery of IRB services that will resonate with sponsors, CROs and research institutions alike,” said Wendel.