WCG’s WIRB-Copernicus IRB Announces New Program to Facilitate IRB Review of Research Protocols for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Vaccines and Therapies

PRINCETON, NJ — March 6, 2020 — WIRB-Copernicus IRB, the industry leader and gold standard in ethical and regulatory human research oversight, today announced a new program to support initiation of protocols associated with mitigating the global spread of coronavirus. WIRB-Copernicus IRB will give prioritized review to clinical trial protocols for COVID-19 (coronavirus) prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines and therapeutic agents, conducted under an investigational new drug (IND) application. WIRB-Copernicus IRB will also waive the initial protocol review fees for that research. To qualify for this new program, the COVID-19 protocol must be submitted before Sept. 1, 2020.

“Time is of the essence. We need to support health care researchers in their efforts to discover effective mediations and vaccines to treat and protect global citizens from this new coronavirus, COVID-19,” said Donald A. Deieso, PhD, executive chairman and CEO of WCG. “Our WCG staff want to put their skills to optimal use and play an active role in helping to address this global health care crisis. Through this new IRB prioritization program, we can expedite the start-up of clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and therapies while still maintaining the highest quality and ethical review standards.”

Interested parties, who would like to know more about this new program, should contact Amy Hutnik at ahutnik@wcgclinical.com.

About WCG

WCG is the world’s leading provider of solutions that measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical research. Comprised of two divisions—the industry’s first central IRB—WIRB-Copernicus IRB, and first clinical services organization (CSO)—WCG enables biopharmaceutical companies, CROs, and institutions to accelerate the delivery of new treatments and therapies to patients, while maintaining the highest standards of human subject protection. For more information, please visit www.wcgclinical.com or follow us on Twitter @WCGClinical or LinkedIn.