Your clinical trial
questions answered.

Our offices are open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm and our telephone team are available Monday to Friday, 8am – 7pm. If you are interested in volunteering in one of our clinical trials or require further information, please call us on 0207 756 1414. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected].

The security & privacy of individuals personal data is paramount to hVIVO/FluCamp. We are fully compliant with data protection laws both in the UK and the EU, regarding the collection, use and retention of your personal data. You can read more in our Privacy Policy.

We conduct research with respiratory viruses used in challenge studies, we are currently developing a model for research using SARS-CoV-2.

You can still take part in FluCamp if you smoke or vape. However participation is study specific and it is important that you are open and honest about your habits. Please be aware that, for some studies, during screening and quarantine, volunteers have to abstain from smoking, vaping and using products containing nicotine.

We usually run multiple studies around the same time. The studies’ criteria, timelines and dates all differ from one another and can sometimes change. To determine which studies you could potentially take part in we must first analyse the blood sample from your initial screening appointment. (For some studies, we may not require an initial screening appointment). If you are eligible for the next stage of screening, we will then send you an informed consent form. This is a document approved by all the relevant regulatory authorities and it will explain in great detail all about the study.

A ‘placebo’ is a dummy drug that looks like the active investigational medicinal product (IMP), which is given in the same way but contains none of the active ingredients. As part of a clinical trial, placebos are administered to some volunteers. You will not know if you are receiving the study drug or placebo as this will be randomly allocated. You will still be compensated the same, and your participation is just as important. If you have any questions regarding a placebo or any other queries around our clinical trials, please get in touch with us.

Taking part in a clinical trial can offer many benefits, and we know our volunteers sign up for various reasons. Our testimonials show just some of the motivations for people to sign up. Whether studying, working, or taking a break from both, FluCamp gives volunteers the benefit of being cared for in every regard whilst having plenty of ‘me-time’. FluCampers also choose to stay with us because they like to use the compensation reward towards travelling, a house move, or just for a financial boost.

We run clinical trials because we are dedicated to finding a cure for viruses like the flu. We welcome all fit and healthy volunteers, and appreciate what they are doing to aid our work towards finding a cure!

You can take part multiple times! You can do a trial with us every 3 months*. If you’ve taken part previously, and completed quarantine over three months ago you can re-apply via email at [email protected]. *Please note this is dependent on trial availability and participant eligibility.

No. hVIVO and FluCamp does not conduct any First in Human Phase 1 Clinical Trials.

Yes! We currently need volunteers with asthma for our trials. If you would like to participate in a trial to help asthmatics, please click here to sign up today.

We take great care in matching volunteers to an appropriate study. Once you’ve been invited to join FluCamp we’ll give you a detailed explanation of the trial we’ve allocated you to and then it’s up to you to decide whether to take part. Your choice does not impact on whether you would be eligible to take part in any future studies. FluCamp has a very strict health screening process to ensure that we only accept the lowest risk volunteers. As part of our volunteering process, we will check your medical history, and do some current blood, urine and ECG tests to establish your suitability. This allows us to make sure we are only recruiting volunteers who are healthy.

Volunteers can choose to leave FluCamp at any time. If a volunteer is in the latter stages of a trial they may be asked to come back in for a follow-up visit, just so we can check that they are healthy. If a volunteer has been given the study virus, we would strongly encourage them to stay in the quarantine unit with us until all their symptoms have disappeared – this helps us monitor the health of the volunteer and, although the viruses’ are replications of those out there in the public domain, we would rather not spread the virus outside of FluCamp.

You can register with us at anytime! Before booking your first screening appointment we would recommend that you have good availabillity three months following this as this tends to be when the trial will take place. We know there may be some times in the year when volunteers have other commitments that may clash with FluCamp dates. If you can give us as much notice as possible, we’ll try our best to schedule visits and studies for times that you are available.

Volunteers joining FluCamp for a clinical trial stay with us on a residential basis in one of our purpose built rooms. Because it’s so important that the data we collect (from samples like blood and mucus ) is ‘clean’, volunteers must stay in quarantine conditions for the whole study. Additionally for this reason, our staff wear masks to comply with infection control guidelines. Please note, occasionally we may have studies available where no virus is administered and therefore residential may not be necessary.

Tax depends on each individual’s circumstances. Please contact the HMRC directly if you have further questions or require any advice around tax on the compensation you receive from us.

For any payment related queries, please contact our payment team via email on [email protected].

All of our clinical trials are different, and payments may vary depending on the length of the residential stay and number of follow up visits. We are currently compensating up to £4,400 for our trials. You are also compensated for both screening appointments. All compensation amounts specific to the trial will be explained after a successful screening visit.

Before volunteers agree to join FluCamp, we’ll let them know when and how much they’ll be paid. Payments are typically made after each screening visit and then in two further stages for volunteers who take part in a residential stay. The first of which is when the residential stay ends and the second is after the last follow-up visit to us (follow-up visits are normally 28 days after your residential stay ends). Please note, for non-residential studies, this may differ.

You will be financially compensated for your participation in a clinical trial. The amount of compensation will be approved by an independent ethics committee and will be fully communicated in your informed consent form which will be provided prior to your participation in a clinical trial.

We do contribute towards the costs volunteers incur when travelling to our clinics. For example, we will compensate volunteers £40 for their time and travel for attending their first pre-screening appointment to give a blood sample. This payment is processed via a link we send you in an email* approximately 3 working days after your appointment. If you’re eligible to attend the second stage of screening we do assist further (£70).

*Please note this email comes from a company called Hyperwallet and not FluCamp.

All of our work is conducted to the highest standards, and all medical trials that involve an investigational medicinal product are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. That means that every trial has been reviewed and approved by external bodies including the Research Ethics Committee as part of a quality management system. FluCamp operates a single quality management system to ensure compliance with relevant regulations and guidelines, applicable to working in the clinical trial industry and handling data. These include The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Human Tissue Act 2004 and Data Protection Act 2018 – which are all regulated by external bodies. The performance and standards of our Clinical Teams are accountable to the same governing bodies as NHS staff e.g GMC for physicians. All of our trials are conducted in line with regulations and we take the utmost care of our volunteers. If you have any questions with regards to Flu Camp trial regulators then please get in touch.

For some studies which involve an initial screening, a blood sample may be required. This is a standard procedure which is unlikely to cause any problems, but on occasion it may be uncomfortable and there is a risk of minor bruising or phlebitis (inflammation of the vein). This is something that normally clears up itself with no further trouble. Our quarantine volunteers (the volunteers who have passed two screening visits and who are invited to participate in the full trial) are given a diluted virus so it’s likely that they may experience some mild cold or flu like symptoms. We often then test a new medication that we would like to fight the virus. If we are testing a new medicine, volunteers may experience some minor side effects. Any side effects seen in the Phase I trials will be thoroughly discussed in the Informed Consent Form (ICF) and any questions can be directed to the physicians. Please note, before reaching FluCamp, the medication will have already been tested on humans and passed strict safety tests.

We understand that there may be some concerns when it comes to clinical trials. However, we have a very rigorous screening programme here at FluCamp, which means we only accept volunteers who we believe are fit and healthy enough to take part. We conduct in-depth health checks and you will not be selected if we do not believe you are fully healthy. This ensures volunteers who join a study are at minimal risk. The medication we use in our studies has already been tested on humans in accordance with relevant regulations. The virus is only administered in small doses and you will be monitored throughout the trial by our expert team in a safe environment.

Yes, we require all participants who are sexually active to be on a highly effective form of contraception for several weeks before and after they attend FluCamp. You do not need to be on any form of contraception to sign up to FluCamp. If you are invited to a full trial our doctors will explain any requirements to you.

During our trials we kindly ask that our volunteers refrain from strenuous exercise, as this may impact blood test results. You can however bring your own yoga mat to do some light yoga.

Fresh bedding and towels are provided 3 times a week, however we can provide daily if requested. We ask volunteers to bring their own toiletries but if something is forgotten, we have a small supply of toiletries available. We don’t offer a laundry service, so please pack enough clothes for the duration of your stay. Please also make sure you bring clothes to keep you warm, as the rooms are temperature controlled.

We want your stay at FluCamp to be as comfortable as possible for you, which is why you can bring almost anything with you. Please note, our team need space to carry out their work, so there’s not enough room for big items like TVs or desktop computers, but most things like laptops, iPad’s and any small musical instruments are welcome. Feel free to give us a quick call before your stay with us to check what you can bring.

At our clinical trial quarantine facility, all our rooms vary. This may mean that your given room doesn’t have a window with an external view. However, you can rest assured that all of our rooms are equipped with the same state-of-the-art amenities, including a Smart TV, PlayStation 5, dimmer lights, WiFi and an en-suite bathroom.

Click the links below to explore how your room at FluCamp could look!

Room 1

Room 2

We have individual rooms where volunteers stay for the duration of their clinical trial. All the rooms are en suite, and come with Wi-Fi, a Smart TV and a PlayStation 5. Volunteers are welcome to bring in some things from home, such as an iPad, books, laptops and more. For a closer look at what your room could look like, click on the links below.

Room 1

Room 2

You’ll receive 3 meals a day as well as a variety of unlimited snacks. We have a choice of foods available, including vegetarian/vegan options and all our meat is Halal. Volunteers will always have water available and depending on which trial they join, decaffeinated tea and coffee is available to order as well. As hygiene and cleanliness are essential, we can’t allow volunteers to bring their own food or drink to FluCamp.

In order to not impact study results, we recommend not communicating with other volunteers who are also participating in a clinical trial with us.

The first few days of a volunteer’s stay with us are an extension of their previous screening visits. This is because we want to make sure that nothing has changed and that volunteers are still healthy to participate. Not everyone passes this final screening phase, for example, we can’t accept people with coughs and colds.  Everyone that passes the final screening process has the same chance of staying with us for the duration of a study. Sometimes people are unable to stay until the end, but depending on the reason, volunteers are welcome to come back to join FluCamp at a another time. Those that do leave early will be entitled to compensation for the number of days they spend in the unit – details of this are outlined and provided in the Informed Consent Form (ICF), which volunteers will receive via email prior to their appointment.

Most of our clinical trials are residential, and are conducted under quarantine. This means that you will not be able to visit any relatives or friends who are taking part in a FluCamp clinical study during their stay. This is a strict rule as we need to ensure the safety of both our volunteers and others. The viruses we give are replications of those that are already out in the public domain, but nevertheless we would prefer not to spread them outside of FluCamp! Volunteers are allowed electronic devices such as laptops and smart phones so you are able to stay in touch with your family member/friend throughout their stay.