Datatrak "on track" for 2007

Datatrak International said it has been offered a minimum of $3m (€2.4m) worth of contracts for next year out of a deal struck with its first "multibillion-dollar" pharma firm in the second quarter.

Under the contracts Datatrak will provide its eClinical software and support services for trials from Phases I-III, although not exclusively - Datatrak currently has exclusive contracts with four companies, although this latest customer appears to be still testing the waters.

Instead, Datatrak has agreed to provide the client with a consistent pricing format in return for the indicated minimum level of business.

"The business model representing this relationship continues to be the company's trial-by-trial contracting approach and is not a licensing structure," said Dr Jeffrey Green, Datatrak president and CEO.

"This approach can now serve as a template with other clients seeking to achieve the identical advantages for their clinical development programs."

The fostered relationship brings the company closer to achieving its goal of eventually having four to five 'anchor' clients capable of initiating 30-40 new clinical trials on an annual basis in addition to thirty to forty clients capable of initiating 1-10 new trials per year.

As the evolving IT market for clinical trials begins to gain momentum, this goal could be well in sight.

Datatrak has been continually expanding both its capabilities and its customer base over the last year.

The firm added seven new customers during the second quarter, five of which were from its newly-formed relationship with Duke Medical Strategies' COResearch division, worth a total of $250,000.

Datatrak also bought technology company ClickFind in February, whose software capabilities allowed it to offer the "broadest multi-component eClinical capability in the clinical trials market," according to a statement released at the time.

Green said the company, who reported a loss of $702,000 in the second quarter, expects to begin realising the benefits of these developments over the next several quarters.