March 29, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Contract research organization Rho is hiring 30 new employees thanks to a steady stream of opportunities working with pharmaceutical companies, the Triangle Business Journal reported Monday afternoon.
Kay Lowery, a human resources service leader, told the Journal the company is hiring for the long-term. The hiring spree will give the company about 400 total employees, an 8 percent increase, the Journal said. According to the company’s website, Rho is hiring for multiple positions, including clinical data manager, clinical research associates, clinical team lead, project managers, statistical programmer and biostatistician. In addition to the scientific positions, Rho is also hiring for administrative roles as well, including human resources generalist and an IT project manager.
Rho is located in close proximity to the Research Triangle Park, the hub of North Carolina’s biotech and pharmaceutical industry. RTP is home to companies like Biogen , Dow, Bayer and Celgene , as well as numerous smaller diagnostics and drug research companies. Other contract research organizations in RTP include Quintiles and PRA Health Sciences. Last year 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.
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 350 employees and is on the leading edge of clinical research work.
Rho recently took part in a clinical trial studying early peanut consumption in relation to the development of an allergy to the food. The trial results found that “children who consumed peanut-containing foods regularly from infancy to age five and then avoided peanut for one year did not become allergic to peanut,” the company said in a statement earlier this month. The results of the study indicate early peanut consumption has long-lasting benefits, Rho said. The study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy And Infectious Diseases.
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.
