Booming Rho to Go on 40-Person+ Hiring Binge
September 19, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Rho, the North Carolina-based contract research organization continues to see growth. Thanks to a steady stream of business opportunities the company aims to add on an additional 40 employees.
The company announced its hiring plans as part of a growth expansion strategy for 2017. Rho said the open positions ranged from entry-level research associate or administrative assistant positions to seasoned professionals, including clinical research associates (CRAs) and senior project managers. Rho also said it is looking to full more senior positions such as research scientists and a vice president of operations.
The jobs Rho is hiring for can be found on the company’s job-portal page. Positions include Senior Clinical Research Associate, Senior Clinical Data Manger I, Senior Regulatory Document Manager, Principle Clinical Research Associate I, Medical Officer, Research Associate, Statistical Programmer II, Research Associate- Quality Assurance, Client Support Representative and more.
Privately-held Rho was founded in 1984 in the basement of a North Carolina couple, Ron and Mary Helms. More than 30 years later, the company has grown to more than 400 employees and is on the leading edge of clinical research work.
Russ Helms, Rho’s chief executive officer, said the company is fortunate to be in a position to continue the hiring spree. Last year the company added on about 30 employees, bringing the total at the time to approximately 400 people, which was an 8 percent increase in hiring.
“Much of the growth is coming from our commercial business, but there are open positions throughout the company. We hope to have these positions filled over the next several months,” Helms said in a statement.
That kind of growth can be seen in agreements the CRO has struck with the likes of California-based Evoke Pharma Inc. In May, Rho struck a deal to assist Evoke with the preparation and submission of its New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Gimoti, a treatment for acute and recurrent diabetic gastroparesis in adult women.
Last year, the company took part in a clinical trial studying early peanut consumption in relation to the development of an allergy to the food. The results of the study indicate early peanut consumption has long-lasting benefits, Rho said.
Rho has won a number of federal contracts, including a $4.2 million contract with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The $4.2 million one year contract includes four one-year options with a total estimated ceiling of $21.9 million, the company said. In September 2015, Rho was awarded a seven-year $16.5 million contract with the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation, part of the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases, to provide clinical research consortia in the areas of asthma and allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, and transplantation.
In 2015, Rho was recognized by the Triangle Business Journal as one of the best contract research organizations in the RTP area. Rho was one of 15 companies touted by the Journal for being an industry leader in the RTP area. That recognition is also another attractive point for potential candidates, Lowery said.