California-based Independent Review Consulting (IRC) and Missouri-based Ethical Review Committee (ERC) finalized their merger agreement, creating one institutional review board (IRB)—Ethical and Independent Review Services (E&I). While the individual boards of each company will continue their review of existing clinical trials respectively, all new submissions of business will be accepted and managed by E&I.

Both companies’ offices will remain open, and company leaders Terri Majors (ERC) and Erica Heath (IRC) will remain as leaders of the new company. The two IRBs have 14 employees total.