Rose Research Center

What Rose Research Center does

Rose Research Center, LLC is a privately held clinical research organization headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a second facility in Charlotte. Founded in 2014 and operating as a specialized CRO, the firm focuses exclusively on tobacco dependence research, including clinical trials of smoking cessation medications, behavioral interventions, tobacco harm reduction products, and e-cigarette safety. It serves two principal customer groups: pharmaceutical, biotech, and government sponsors that contract the firm to execute FDA-relevant clinical studies, and adult smokers and tobacco users who volunteer as study participants in exchange for compensation and potential early access to investigational treatments. The organization is led by Dr. Jed E. Rose, Ph.D., the co-inventor of the nicotine skin patch and a contributor to the development of varenicline (Chantix), and a broader team with over 50 years of combined industry experience.

The company's core technology assets include a proprietary Volunteer Database that provides recruitment reach across the Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham metropolitan areas covering more than 10 million individuals, and the eResearch mobile application, which enables virtual screening visits, electronic consent, telehealth consultations, and ongoing study communication. Participant acquisition is supported by a multi-channel marketing infrastructure spanning television commercials, print advertising, social media, and five dedicated recruitment websites including quitsmokingstudies.com and researchecig.com. Two physical facilities, located at 7240 ACC Boulevard in Raleigh and 8401 Medical Plaza Drive in Charlotte, are equipped to conduct the full spectrum of tobacco-related study protocols, including medically supervised trials and behavioral counseling.

Rose Research Center generates revenue primarily through professional-services contracts with pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors for clinical trial execution. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; participant compensation is determined by study duration and discomfort. The firm has received non-dilutive grant funding, including a 2022 award from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. With 11-50 employees, the organization operates as a focused, niche CRO rather than a diversified clinical services platform, and its strategic position rests on scientific credibility, domain specialization, and an unusually broad recruitment funnel for a site-based research organization.

Name

Rose Research Center

Legal name

Rose Research Center, LLC

Website

https://roseresearchcenter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Rose Research Center is a North Carolina-based clinical research organization that conducts tobacco dependence trials, including smoking cessation, harm reduction, and e-cigarette studies, for pharmaceutical, biotech, and government sponsors while recruiting adult smokers through a proprietary volunteer database and mobile application.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical Research Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Clinical Trial Site Operations & Study Coordination (HLAGACAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Clinical Development (Phase I–III Trial Design & Execution) (HLAIALAE), Smoking Cessation & Nicotine Replacement Therapy (Gum, Patches, Lozenges) (CRADAMAI), Precision Clinical Trials Enablement (patient matching, site matching, adaptive trials) (HLAAANAI)

Keywords

• Clinical research services
• Tobacco dependence research
• Smoking cessation trials
• Contract research organization
• Clinical trial management

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Clinical Trial Services: Rose Research Center conducts clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, government agencies, and other sponsors seeking to evaluate smoking cessation treatments, tobacco harm reduction products, and other tobacco dependence interventions. Revenue is generated through contract research services provided to study sponsors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Rose Research Center conducts medically-supervised clinical trials evaluating smoking cessation medications, behavioral approaches, tobacco harm reduction treatments, and e-cigarette safety at two North Carolina research facilities. The company supports these trials with a proprietary volunteer database covering more than 10 million individuals in the Carolinas and an eResearch mobile application for virtual screening and telehealth consultations.

Product overview

Rose Research Center operates as a clinical research organization specializing in tobacco dependence research. The company offers a unified platform combining its proprietary eResearch mobile application for participant engagement and virtual screening with on-site clinical trial services conducted at its two North Carolina facilities in Raleigh and Charlotte. The eResearch App enables remote screening, consent management, and telehealth consultations, while the clinical trial services provide in-person study execution for smoking cessation, harm reduction, and e-cigarette research. The Volunteer Database supports recruitment by maintaining a large pool of pre-qualified participants across the target geographic region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Clinical Trial Services Contract clinical trial services for pharmaceutical, biotech, and government sponsors, evaluating smoking cessation medications, behavioral approaches, tobacco harm reduction treatments, and e-cigarette safety at two state-of-the-art facilities in Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina.
• eResearch Mobile Application A mobile application used by clinical trial participants to complete virtual screening visits, manage consent forms, and engage in telehealth consultations with Rose Research Center study staff.
• Volunteer Database Service A proprietary participant recruitment service backed by a database with market reach of over 10 million individuals in the Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and surrounding areas, enabling efficient pre-qualification and matching of volunteers with clinical trial protocols.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Inotiv: Inotiv is a contract research organization providing preclinical and clinical research services. Comparable as a specialty CRO serving pharmaceutical sponsors with focused research capabilities, overlapping in target customer base and contract research services model.
• Worldwide Clinical Trials: Worldwide Clinical Trials is a mid-sized CRO with strong expertise in neuroscience and specialty therapeutic areas. Comparable to Rose Research Center in scale and focus-area depth, it competes for similar mid-sized specialty trial mandates.
• Celerion: Celerion is an early-phase clinical research organization with significant experience in tobacco/nicotine and smoking-cessation studies. It is the most directly comparable peer to Rose Research Center given shared focus on tobacco dependence research and bioequivalence/pharmacokinetic studies in human subjects.
• CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services: CTI is a privately-held, mid-sized CRO specializing in clinical research across multiple therapeutic areas. Comparable to Rose Research Center in scale and operating model, serving similar mid-sized pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors.
• Altasciences: Altasciences is a mid-sized CRO with strong early-phase clinical research capabilities, including bioequivalence studies. Comparable to Rose Research Center in size and focus on early-phase, healthy-volunteer and specialty patient population trials.

Broad incumbents

• Syneos Health: Syneos Health (now private under Elliott/Veritas) is a large CRO offering clinical development and commercialization services. It serves the same pharmaceutical and biotech sponsor base as Rose Research Center and represents a scaled competitor for sponsor contracts.
• IQVIA: IQVIA is the largest global CRO and life sciences services company. It is a broad incumbent competitor that sponsors evaluating Rose Research Center for tobacco research will typically benchmark against, particularly for larger or multi-region programs.
• Charles River Laboratories: Charles River Laboratories is a large CRO with extensive clinical and preclinical research services. While more preclinical-focused, it competes for sponsor relationships and represents the larger alternative to specialized centers like Rose Research Center.
• Medpace Holdings: Medpace is a mid-to-large full-service CRO that runs Phase I–IV trials across multiple therapeutic areas. While broader than Rose Research Center, Medpace competes for the same pharmaceutical and biotech sponsor dollars and increasingly handles specialty indications including tobacco-related research.
• ICON plc: ICON is a top-five global CRO offering full-service clinical development across all phases and therapeutic areas. Like IQVIA, it competes for the same pharmaceutical sponsor contracts and represents the scale alternative to Rose Research Center's niche model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rose Research Center