Schulman Associates IRB, Inc.

What Schulman Associates IRB, Inc. does

Schulman Associates IRB, Inc. is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based Institutional Review Board founded in 1982 (variously recorded as 1983). The entity was acquired by Advarra around 2017 and its operations were fully integrated into the Advarra IRB platform, where it now contributes to the largest central IRB in the market, built from the heritage of several leading independent IRBs with more than 40 years of combined ethical review leadership. Under the Advarra brand, the business provides independent ethical and regulatory review services — including IRB, Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), Data Monitoring Committee (DMC), and GxP compliance intelligence — to sponsors, CROs, and research institutions, with particular depth in oncology and advanced therapeutic modalities such as cell and gene therapy.

The company's core technology is CIRBI (Collaborative Institutional Review Board Interface), a proprietary, secure web platform that serves as the single source of truth for submissions, required actions, study status, and board decisions, and which integrates directly with site eReg systems, sponsor eTMF, and the Advarra Study Collaboration platform (formerly Longboat). Around CIRBI, Advarra has assembled a broader product portfolio including the Braid Data and AI Engine (which now powers a 2024-launched Study Design Solution), site-level CTMS products OnCore and Clinical Conductor, eReg and eSource modules, and the Study Collaboration platform. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales, with each organization assigned a dedicated coordinator from startup through closeout; pricing is not publicly disclosed but follows recurring, contract-based submission and study review fees, supported by 87% of submissions coming from returning customers.

Name

Schulman Associates IRB, Inc.

Legal name

Schulman Associates IRB, Inc.

Website

https://sairb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Schulman Associates IRB, Inc. operates as Advarra IRB, the largest central Institutional Review Board in North America, providing independent ethical review of clinical trials for top-20 pharma, CROs, oncology networks, and emerging biotechs across more than 72,000 sites via the proprietary CIRBI platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Services

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

akta.pro primary industry

Clinical Research Ethics & Human Subjects Protection Authorities (IRB/REC Oversight) (HLAJACAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Research Administration & Compliance (Sponsored Programs, IRB/REB) (EDADAKAH)

Keywords

• IRB review services
• Central IRB services
• Biosafety committee services
• Clinical trial oversight
• Research ethics review

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. IRB Review Services: Advarra provides ethical oversight and IRB review services primarily to sponsors, CROs, and research institutions. Each organization is assigned a dedicated coordinator. Revenue is generated through recurring service fees for IRB review, with the submission and review workflow managed through the CIRBI platform. Returning customers account for 87% of submissions, suggesting an annual or recurring contract-based revenue model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Schulman Associates IRB, Inc. provides independent central Institutional Review Board (IRB) review services for human-subjects research, including initial protocol review, ongoing study oversight, amendments, and continuing reviews. Its portfolio also includes Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) services, all delivered through the proprietary CIRBI workflow platform and supported by integrations with leading CTMS, EDC, and clinical research software products.

Product overview

Advarra delivers a comprehensive suite of IRB and clinical research technology solutions. The core offering is CIRBI, a proprietary technology platform that supports the IRB review process. The company has expanded through acquisitions of leading CTMS platforms (OnCore, Clinical Conductor) for sites and institutions, and offers complementary tools including eReg (electronic regulatory), eSource (electronic source documentation), and Study Collaboration for sponsors and CROs. The portfolio also includes Braid, a Data & AI Engine, alongside specialized review services for IRB, IBC, and DMC oversight. This platform-plus-modules architecture enables Advarra to serve the entire clinical trial ecosystem from study design through execution and oversight.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Central IRB Review Services Independent central IRB review of human-subjects research protocols, including initial review, amendments, and continuing review for multi-site clinical trials. Used by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and CRO sponsors and academic medical centers.
• CIRBI Platform Cloud-based platform for IRB and IBC submissions, review tracking, document management, and study collaboration. Used by sponsors, CROs, and research sites submitting protocols for central ethics review.
• IBC (Institutional Biosafety Committee) Services Independent IBC review for studies involving recombinant DNA, gene therapy, and other biohazardous materials. Used by sponsors and research institutions requiring NIH OSP and local biosafety oversight.
• DMC (Data Monitoring Committee) Services Independent Data Monitoring Committee chartering, member placement, and meeting management for clinical trial safety oversight. Used by sponsors running Phase II/III clinical trials requiring interim safety reviews.
• OnCore CTMS Enterprise Clinical Trial Management System used by academic medical centers and cancer centers to manage protocol administration, subject visit tracking, and study financials.
• Clinical Conductor CTMS Site-based Clinical Trial Management System for investigator sites and research organizations to manage study pipelines, subject enrollment, and billing.
• eReg Electronic regulatory binder platform for clinical trial sites to manage 1572 forms, CVs, training records, and other regulatory documents.
• eSource Electronic source data capture solution for clinical trial sites to capture and route study data directly to EDC and downstream systems.
• Study Collaboration Platform Online platform for sponsor, CRO, and site coordination across clinical research workflows, including IRB, IBC, and ancillary service routing.
• Braid Data and AI Engine Proprietary data and AI engine for clinical research analytics, protocol feasibility, and study design, used by sponsors and CROs.
• GxP Compliance Intelligence Compliance intelligence platform for GxP-regulated clinical research, providing regulatory monitoring, gap analysis, and audit support for life sciences organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 87% of submissions come from returning customers
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SCRI (Sarah Cannon Research Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvarra is the preferred provider for IRB and IBC services for SCRI's late-stage trials. This partnership is part of Advarra's strategy to be the preferred IRB partner for leading oncology research institutions, with deep expertise in oncology protocols — reviewing 2x more oncology protocols than any other independent IRB.
• START (South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvarra and START united to deliver unmatched speed, quality, and predictability for early-phase and late-phase oncology trials. Advarra serves as preferred IRB and IBC partner for START, supporting both early-phase and late-phase trials with deep oncology expertise.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mayo Clinic IRB / large academic central IRBs: Large academic medical center IRBs increasingly serving as the sIRB of record for NIH-funded multi-site studies, partially overlapping Advarra's institutional-facing IRB service line.

Direct peers

• New England IRB: Independent IRB providing review services for clinical research, comparable to Advarra in serving multi-site trials and offering central IRB review for sponsors and institutions.
• Sterling IRB: Independent central IRB providing ethical review services for multi-site clinical research, directly competing with Advarra and WCG for sponsor and CRO central IRB business.
• WCG (WIRB-Copernicus Group): Largest direct competitor in the independent/central IRB market, formed via consolidation of WIRB, Copernicus, and Quorum Review IRB. Competes head-to-head with Advarra for sponsor and CRO central IRB mandates across oncology and multi-site trials.
• BRANY (Biomedical Research Alliance of New York): Central IRB serving academic medical centers and hospital systems, providing IRB review services comparable to Advarra's offerings for multi-site research and sIRB mandates.
• Quorum Review IRB: Central IRB now part of WCG, historically a direct competitor to Schulman/Advarra in providing independent ethical review for multi-site industry-sponsored trials.
• IntegReview IRB: Independent central IRB offering protocol review services for clinical trials, competing with Advarra for sponsor, CRO, and institution-level central IRB engagements.
• Copernicus Group IRB: Independent central IRB that merged into WCG; provides comparable IRB review services and was a long-standing competitor to Schulman Associates IRB before consolidation.
• BioMedical Research Alliance of NY (BRANY IRB): Central IRB offering services across academic and community-based clinical research sites; competes with Advarra for sIRB and multi-site review engagements.

Emerging players

• WCG Velos: Clinical trial management and IRB-adjacent technology offering within WCG's portfolio; competes with Advarra's OnCore, Clinical Conductor, and CIRBI platform stack at the site and sponsor level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schulman-associates-irb-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Schulman Associates IRB, Inc.