We are a rapidly growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO) offering end-to-end drug development services from preclinical consultancy through to Phase III clinical trials and the world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease vaccines and therapeutics using human challenge clinical trials.
hVIVO is the world leader in human challenge trials, pioneering research that accelerates the development of vaccines and therapeutics for infectious and respiratory diseases.
Since our founding, we have built an unparalleled heritage in early clinical development. Our journey began in 2011 with the opening of laboratory, screening, and quarantine facilities in Whitechapel, London, designed to provide a safe and controlled environment for human challenge studies. Over the years, our commitment to innovation and expansion has enabled us to develop state-of-the-art facilities and capabilities, including the Whitechapel Clinic and additional screening centres in London and Manchester. In 2024, we launched our flagship Canary Wharf site — the world’s largest human challenge trial facility — housing 50 quarantine bedrooms, advanced laboratories, an outpatient unit, and corporate headquarters. With CL-3 capability, this site allows us to offer complex trials, advanced laboratory support, and expanded clinical services, while our network of screening sites in London, Manchester, Mannheim, and Kiel ensures efficient and scalable participant recruitment.
Our expertise is strengthened by the integration of our specialist divisions. hLAB, founded in 1989, delivers industry-leading virology, immunology, and molecular laboratory services. With Biosafety Level 2 and 3 facilities, hLAB provides validated assays, sample analysis, and data outputs that drive proof of concept and breakthrough discoveries in vaccine and therapeutic development. Venn Life Sciences, with over 25 years of experience, brings strategic insight and operational excellence, helping biopharma companies worldwide accelerate projects. Since joining hVIVO in 2022, Venn has combined its longevity, motivated global teams, and technical expertise to enhance the speed and efficiency of drug development. CRS, formed in 2006 from the merger of three renowned German CROs, contributes over 40 years of collective expertise in Phase I clinical trials. Operating three Clinical Pharmacology Units with more than 160 beds, CRS delivers pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and specialised early-phase studies, making it one of Europe’s leading providers of Phase I services.
Together, these capabilities form a fully integrated organisation. hVIVO combines world-class human challenge trial expertise, advanced laboratory services, and early-phase clinical trial leadership to provide clients with a seamless, end-to-end development pathway. Trusted by biopharma companies globally, we accelerate the development of vaccines and therapeutics, helping address unmet medical needs and shape the future of infectious disease research.
Our services are provided and tailored for both pharmaceutical and biotech companies, utilising a range of different human challenge models and laboratory methodologies. Our extensive experience, collected over 25 years of conducting challenge studies, ensures effective study design and excellent service for customers.
By combining Venn’s strategic biopharma expertise and CRS’s Phase I–III trial capabilities with hVIVO’s full spectrum of early clinical development services, we provide seamless support from preclinical studies through to Phase III.
We offer laboratory services through hLAB, based in Canary Wharf, London. hLAB is a highly specialised virology and immunology laboratory offering a suite of services to support pre-clinical and clinical respiratory drug and vaccine discovery & development.
Reliable laboratory analysis underpinned by scientific expertise is essential when processing and analysing clinical samples. Robust quality processes support our team of scientists in the delivery of submission ready data.
Challenge Study Models
Years of Combined Service
Number of Studies Completed
One of our key advantages is access to diverse study participants. FluCamp (UK-based) recruits healthy volunteers for human challenge trials, while CRS (Germany-based) enrolls both healthy volunteers and patients for Phase I–III studies, ensuring robust, high-quality data across our early clinical programs.
In January 2020, hVIVO merged with Open Orphan plc, a rapidly growing niche CRO pharmaceutical services company.
On 26 October 2022, Open Orphan plc changed its name to hVIVO plc to maximise its brand recognition as the world leader in human challenge trials. hVIVO is now the parent company of both Venn Life Sciences, and CRS. Venn is an integrated drug development consultancy, offering CMC (chemistry, manufacturing and controls), preclinical, Phase I & II clinical trials design and execution (including data management and statics management. More recently, in 2025 hVIVO acquired CRS, CRS specialises in early phase clinical development, from First-in-Human and proof of concept studies. Together, the companies offer a full-service solution, from consultancy and drug development, to running phase I First-in-Human studies to human challenge model trials.
Building on decades of unrivalled experience, we provide world class expertise and capabilities in challenge agent manufacture, a unique portfolio of established human challenge models to test a broad range of infectious and respiratory disease products, CL2 and CL3 specialist laboratory services and specialist drug development and clinical consultancy services.
Venn Life Sciences is an Integrated Drug Development partner offering a unique combination of drug development consultancy, clinical trial design and execution.
CRS is a leading early phase CRO with state-of-the-art research units in Germany, excelling in innovative solutions for early clinical development, from First-in-Human studies to Proof-of-Concept trials in patients.
hLAB is a highly specialised infectious disease and immunology laboratory offering a suite of services to support pre-clinical and drug and vaccine discovery & development.
Through the acquisition of Cryostore™, hLAB have extended their storage offering to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries with locations in London and Cambridge. Crystore™ is a dedicated GxP storage facility for biological and clinical materials in secure temperature-controlled conditions.
Flucamp welcomes participants to take part in our clinical trials under expertly supervised conditions.
We have an extensive history, that dates back to the UK Common Cold Unit in Salisbury which ran human challenge studies from 1946 until 1989. The facility was a former military hospital that was donated by Harvard University and began human challenge studies to try to find a cure for influenza.
Our company's founders, Professor John Oxford, worked at the Common Cold Unit alongside Dr David Tyrell, and after it closed, went on to setup Retroscreen Virology Limited out of Queens Mary University in 1989.
Retroscreen, renamed hVIVO in 2015 as part of its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, continues its challenge study work right up to the present day. We are now the world leader in providing human challenge studies to test infectious and respiratory product and we have the widest portfolio of challenge models available in influenza (A & B), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human rhinovirus (HRV), asthma, COPD, cough, malaria, COVID-19 and most recently hMPV. A number of the same techniques used at the Common Cold Unit are still used by us today, though needless to say they have modernised.
At hVIVO, we understand the vital role we play in making infectious and respiratory disease products available to patients faster than otherwise possible, using human challenge trials. With origins dating back to 1947, hVIVO has a long history of scientific research and discovery which has helped to advance global health.
Our most valuable asset is our team, and we strive to promote a diversified and welcoming environment which allows our team to thrive. We are committed to ethical and compliant business practices, from the execution of our clinical trials to our interactions with our volunteers, clients, sponsors, vendors, and investors.
We understand our responsibility to reduce our impact on the environment whenever possible, we strive to minimise our carbon footprint through energy efficiencies, local and sustainable suppliers, and waste reduction.
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