Innovative Trials is the second fastest-growing, woman-powered UK company in the clinical research sector and in the top 200 overall, according to a new report.

Published by global financial services firm J.P. Morgan, its list of the top 200 women-powered businesses has been compiled following a review of more than 14,500 high-growth companies in the UK that are led or founded by women, are majority owned by women and have a management team where at least half are female. Innovative Trials was named #143 overall, number two in clinical research and the fastest-growing UK company specializing in clinical trial patient recruitment and retention.

Founded by Kate Shaw in 2010, Innovative Trials works with some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies and Contract Research Organizations (CROs) to accelerate patient access to new and life-changing medicines through effective patient recruitment and retention strategies for clinical trials.

The company is also committed to recognizing and celebrating the valuable contributions that women make to the workplace. More than 78 percent of employees are female and of the senior leadership team, half are women.

Kate Shaw, founder and CEO of Innovative Trials, said: “With women typically underrepresented in STEM, I knew that when I started Innovative Trials, I wanted to champion more opportunities for women and create an environment and culture where they could flourish.

“It’s humbling to be included in this list of the top UK women-powered businesses, and our success is due to having a diverse workforce that offers different perspectives and enables us to always ask ourselves if there are better ways to do things. We’re constantly looking to improve the service we provide and ensure what we do is patient-centered and based in empathy. This is the core driver of our growth and ensuring that women have a voice and are empowered to contribute is a key part of that.”

Since its inception, Innovative Trials has worked on more than 400 clinical trials and played a part in bringing over 15 new treatments to market for the benefit of patients across the world. In July 2022, Shaw and her team opened their first international office in the US at North Carolina’s highly regarded Research Triangle.

The company was awarded a Queen’s Award in 2020 for Enterprise and named Best Global Patient Recruitment Company at the 2021 Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards. In September 2024, Shaw won the Woman in Pharma award at the Pharma Industry Awards UK for her work in the clinical research sector, commitment to excellence and drive to inspire others to consider clinical research and clinical trial patient recruitment as a career option.