FutureMeds and Gooseberry Research Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Home-Based Trial Capabilities Across the U.S. and Europe

A transatlantic collaboration aimed at improving patient access and site delivery focused on rare disease and paediatric clinical trials.

Rare disease and paediatric clinical trials remain among the most complex and underserved areas of medical research, often hindered by patient access barriers, protocol complexity, and retention challenges. 

To address these challenges, Gooseberry Research, a U.S.-based provider of in-home clinical trial services, and FutureMeds, a European site network and decentralised trial specialist, have formed a strategic partnership designed to support pharmaceutical and biotech researchers to accelerate the development of new innovative therapies through decentralised and hybrid clinical trials. 

This collaboration brings together complementary capabilities with one shared goal: making research more accessible for patients, with a focus on rare disease and paediatric trials, championing the highest standards in at-home patient experience whilst ensuring participating sites and investigators remain fully engaged and supported. 

“From our first conversations, it was clear we shared a strong operational ethos and a mission to make participation easier for rare disease & paediatric patients and their families. Combining Gooseberry’s specialist U.S. home nursing capabilities with FutureMeds’ proven European infrastructure gives sponsors and CROs a faster, more reliable way to operationalise hybrid trials across two key regions.” 

— Han C. Phan, MD, Founder of Gooseberry Research.  

An Operational Partnership Grounded in Real-World Delivery Expertise 

Both organisations bring depth of experience: 

• Gooseberry Research is a leading provider of in-home clinical trial services for rare and paediatric diseases across the United States. Their services are designed to the highest standards of clinical care and regulatory compliance. They pride themselves on providing the most qualified, rigorously trained and experienced home research professionals specialising in paediatrics. All nurses are direct hires and receive extensive site-based research and protocol training at affiliated Rare Disease Research locations, ensuring seamless integration between trial sites and home visits. Co-location at these established sites strengthens Gooseberry’s capacity to deliver complex studies with consistency, quality, and patient-centred focus.  

  
  

• FutureMeds operates 28 dedicated clinical research sites in 7 European countries. Our DCT solution, FutureMeds @home with European coverage, has supported over 14,000 home nursing visits in the last 10 years across 320+ studies. 48% of these trials were in rare diseases. FutureMeds @home also brings a robust site engagement, onboarding, training, and quality oversight processes tailored for decentralised elements, a team speaking over 15 European languages. 

  
  

By aligning their operational frameworks, training protocols, and communication channels, the partners aim to offer a reliable, scalable, and site-integrated home care model that reduces patient burden and supports trial success. 

“Sponsors tell us they’re looking for four critical factors: better access to patients, less operational friction, high retention rates, and cost-effective solutions. This partnership helps deliver all four. It means fewer vendors, more consistency, and efficiency. More importantly, we bring a tailored approach that addresses the real challenges of paediatric and rare disease trials, placing patients and their unique needs at the very centre as the most important stakeholder.”  

— Iwona Tongbhoyai, Chief Client Solutions Officer at FutureMeds.  

What the Partnership Enables for Sponsors and CROs 

• Licensed, trained home nursing staff across the U.S. and Europe 

• Enhanced workflows for common DCT elements, like in-home visits, patient onboarding, and logistics coordination 

• Expanded tailored solutions for virtual trials, cross-border enrolment, and long-term follow-up studies 

• Rare disease and paediatric trial expertise, including high-burden, low-mobility populations 

• Sites and PI engagement by clinical research experts with a strong track record to boost the adaptation and performance of DCT solutions across Europe and the U.S. 

  
  

The partnership also includes a knowledge-sharing component, with the teams working to jointly improve processes to set a new standard for delivering rare disease and paediatric trials. 

Both companies aim to strengthen their relationships with existing clients and further partner with Sponsors and CROs seeking to operationalise hybrid trial strategies in rare diseases and paediatrics, particularly those needing dual-continent coverage and more site-aligned DCT models. 

About Gooseberry Research   

Gooseberry Research is a leading provider of in-home clinical trial services for rare and paediatric diseases. Its highly qualified, paediatric-trained nurses are direct hires who undergo rigorous research and protocol training at affiliated Rare Disease Research sites in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and New Jersey. By integrating site-based expertise with home health delivery, Gooseberry ensures trials are conducted with the highest standards of quality, compliance, and patient-centred care. 

About FutureMeds @home 

FutureMeds @home is a European decentralised clinical trial (DCT) solution that enables protocol-compliant clinical trial visits in patients’ homes. Designed to improve patient access and retention, the service has supported over 320 trials in the last 10 years, including more than 150 in rare diseases. 

Operating across Europe, FutureMeds @home leverages a network of over 1,400 trained home healthcare professionals and integrates seamlessly with both FutureMeds-owned research sites and external trial sites.  

With a single-vendor delivery model and dedicated project management, FutureMeds @home simplifies logistics for sponsors while ensuring data integrity and compliance. The service has supported 120+ sponsors, 40+ CROs, and 1850+ research sites, and has delivered over 14,000 home visits. 

FutureMeds @home helps bring clinical research to more diverse and underserved populations, reducing patient burden and enabling scalable, hybrid trial delivery across Europe.