As house warming parties go, a gathering Wednesday at Robarts Clinical Trials was more about growth than a grand opening.

The private corporation operating under the umbrella of Robarts Research Institute at Western University moved into the Bell building on Dundas Street three months ago.

On Wednesday, staff at Robarts Clinical Trials celebrated doubling sales over the last three years, and community leaders officially welcomed more high-skilled workers downtown.

“It a real vote for our core, they have come downtown in the heart of the city,” said Coun. Paul Hubert at the grand opening.

“They are a global player. They hire people from around the world. This is not about London, it is about the world. They are drawing people downtown and that is a big deal for us.”

Robarts Clinical Trials does clinical trials of drugs and devices for pharmaceutical companies.

The corporation works for 14 of the world’s top 21 drug companies, largely in the area of gastro-intestinal disease.

“It is a very hard-working team here and once in a while you just have to shout it out, we are very proud of this group, they are very passionate,” said Lisa Harrison, vice-president corporate operations at Robarts Research Institute.

“We have gone from a research group to a commercial entity.”

Robarts Clinical Trials office doesn’t draw money from Western but has become a money-maker for the school, Harrison said.

“We have become 100 per cent financially independent,” she said.

“We decided we had something we could commercialize and we built a company.”

Of its revenue split, about 10 per cent goes to Western while the 90 per cent it keeps is invested back into research.

Robarts Clinical Trials re-invested $2 million in its own research in 2015 and this year that will top $2.3 million.

That growth is reflected in staffing. The workforce at Robarts Clinical Trials has grown to about 150 from 76 employees just three years ago.

In London, Robarts Clinical Trials has 115 staff compared with 60 in 2013.

“It is creating jobs downtown, it adds a sense of vibrancy to downtown,” said Robert Collins, director of workforce development with the London Economic Development Corp.

Robarts drug research focuses specifically on gastro-intestinal diseases and has attracted top talent from around the world, said Michael Nicell, director of business development at Robarts Clinical Trials.

“We have become the experts internationally in IFB (inflammatory bowel disease) trials,” he said.

“Right now in pharma IFB is the largest growth area.”

Robarts Clinical Trials