Under yesterday’s agreement, Phase Forward will provide GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) with licensing and study support services as well as data hosting over a “multi-year” period.
The new deal builds on an existing relationship between the firms, that has seen the UK drug major employ Phase Forward’s InForm electronic data capture (EDC) and trial management system in nearly 600 trials over the last five years.
Commenting on the new agreement Diane Fuell, GSK’s VP of business support, said that it “will allow us to continue to enjoy the significant efficiency gains we have realized from the use of InForm and associated services.”
Phase Forward CEO Bob Weiler said the GSK contract is founded on a shared belief that technology is central to the optimisation of the global pharmaceutical development process.
InForm in favour
Phase Forward’s roster of clients includes both Big Pharmas and contract research organisations (CRO), with its deals with the former helping insulate it from the difficulties experienced so far this year by customers in the contracting sector.
As Weiler explained in April “cancellation of one or two trials for us does not have the impact that it has for a CRO that may have already staffed up to that trial, it is maybe a $50m (€38m) trial for them, for us, it may just be the average ASP (application service provider) price of $450,000.”
Part of the reason Phase Forward is able to bridge the two groups is the popularity of its InForm eClinical system, the latest version of which was launched yesterday.
The system, which was adopted by Everest Clinical Research Services and Novo Nordisk under deals signed in April, is already used by Big Pharma firms like AstraZeneca and Novartis, as well as CRO players such as Quintiles and Parexel.
While competition in the eClinical space is hotting up, particularly with the launch of Microsoft’s Amalga, InForm’s use by regulatory agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK’s MHRA may help it stand out from the crowd.