VCTC's Journey So Far: Revolutionising Clinical Trials

At VCTC, we’re incredibly proud of how far we've come and excited to share the story of our journey so far.

From our early days as a concept to our current expansion across Europe, we’ve been on a mission to shake up the clinical trials landscape - putting patients at the heart of what we do and making the process more efficient and accessible. It’s been an incredible ride, filled with big milestones and even bigger goals. Join us as we look back at our journey and share a glimpse of what’s next!

Our journey reflects a clear vision: to modernise clinical trials, making them more patient-centered, efficient, and adaptable. Founded and led by Dr. Helen Shaw and Daniel Henley, we are dedicated to reshaping clinical research with simplicity, accessibility, and affordability in mind.

Our Mission

VCTC stands at the crossroads between traditional and decentralised clinical trials, leveraging both methods to offer flexible, scalable, and patient-focused trial options. Dr. Shaw's founding vision was to reduce the physical, emotional, and logistical burden on clinical trial participants, streamline the path to market for new products, and lower costs for low-risk, late-stage clinical trials and Real-World Data (RWD) studies.

For Daniel Henley, the mission was equally clear: to ensure that the UK remains a global leader in clinical research, equipped to compete in a rapidly advancing landscape, by offering clients and patients an alternative to the existing structures that exist for clinical research. Together, they created VCTC to offer clinical trials that set the standard for efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and patient care.

Key Milestones in Our Journey

• October 2021 - Initial Concept: The vision for VCTC took shape, rooted in the desire to bring meaningful change to the industry, and to continue to harness the learnings that the global pandemic presented
• March 2022 – The Virtual Clinical Trials Centre was Formed: Established as a dedicated research site for virtual trials, it brought new flexibility and reduced logistical barriers to clinical research.
• July 2022 - First Fully Virtual IMP Trial Awarded: We reached a major milestone extremely quickly, solidifying our capability and validating our approach in the industry.
• March 2023 - Rebranded as VCTC: Reflecting our broader goals and growth, we officially adopted the name VCTC.
• May 2023 - Partnership and Equity Investment with SPRIM Global Investments: Our collaboration with SPRIM provided resources and expertise that accelerated our growth and solidified our vision.
• May 2023 – Awards: VCTC won the Start Up of the Year and Best Medtech and Healthtech company at the Start-up Awards.
• June 2023 - Business Growth Plans Initiated: We implemented a strategic business plan focused on refining processes, business development, and establishing new office locations in Oxford and Birmingham.
• July 2023 – Multi Therapeutic Capabilities: VCTC delivered a number of trials across a range of different therapeutic areas, including Infectious Disease, Wound Healing, CNS disorders. The team collaborated with numerous clients to design strategies to support the identification and retention of patients into their studies.
• August 2023 - Permanent Clinics Opened in Oxford and Derbyshire: VCTC expanded to include permanent clinic locations, providing physical spaces to support our clinical trial operations.
• November 2024 – Awards: VCTC won the Best Start-up company award in the East Staffordshire, South Derbyshire business awards.
• December 2023 - CQC Qualification and Virtual Wards: With CQC qualification, we began offering virtual wards, in-home investigators, and at-home blood sampling, ensuring greater convenience and care continuity for trial participants.
• January 2024 - Permanent Clinic Opened Northamptonshire: VCTC expanded to include a permanent clinic location in Northampton.
• April 2024 – VCTC Pharmacy: VCTC opened a full-service pharmacy based in Oxford to support all trial requirements.
• October 2024 - Expansion into Spain: With the launch of VCTC Research SL in Spain, we marked a major milestone in our mission to deliver patient-centric clinical trials across Europe, expanding our reach and commitment to accessible, high-quality research.
• November 2024 – Awards: VCTC won the Best Medium company award in the East Staffordshire, South Derbyshire business awards.
• November 2024 – CQC certification: To improve the quality and consistency of our home trial visits the CQC accreditation means VCTC can deliver trial related care inside the patients' homes without the need for additional home nursing vendor support.

What’s Next?

Looking forward, VCTC will continue to innovate in 2025 and beyond. We continue to develop more services aimed at enhancing patient experience, reducing costs, and maintaining VCTC’s reputation as a pioneer in both virtual and hybrid clinical trials, globally.

Stay tuned as we continue to advance and expand our offerings, keeping patient-centered research at the heart of everything we do. At VCTC, we are excited to drive change in the clinical trials industry, making research more accessible, efficient, and ultimately, more impactful.