Drug researcher Trio getting bigger

While big pharmaceutical companies are slashing costs, including spending on experimental drugs, smaller drug-development companies are plowing ahead with research.

That's helping fuel growth for clinical research organizations, which help drug companies research and test new medicines.

Later today, Trio Clinical Research will provide wine and snacks to celebrate. OK, the party is mostly to mark the official opening of Trio's larger headquarters in Northwest Raleigh. The company moved from smaller digs in Durham.

And with the bigger offices, Trio is expanding. The company, founded in 2003, now has about 50 workers, with plans to add more.

"We'll hire to the rate at which our business grows," said senior vice president Kurt Mussina. "We are seeing an uptick in business."

The Triangle is one of the world's biggest hubs for so-called CROs, including some of the biggest in the industry, Quintiles Transnational of Durham, and PPD, a Wilmington company with a large campus in Morrisville.

But it's also the base for several smaller CROs, drawn by the region's drug-development industry. All the activity makes this an ideal place to win new customers and attract talented workers, Mussina said.

He declined to comment on specific customers, but said that Trio has worked with many Triangle drug companies.