InForm, an electronic data capture (EDC) platform designed to streamline the clinical trials process, is widely used in the industry by both drugmakers such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca and Novartis, and contract research organisations (CRO) like Quintiles and Parexel.
More recently the system won the US Society for Clinical Data Management’s (SCDM) award for data driven innovation after Phase Forward's work with Merck & Co on a direct data loading (DDL) project.
This broad industry acceptance coupled with previous collaborations in clinical research, were key motivations for the new multi-year deal as PharmaNet’s president of late-stage development Thomas Newman explained.
"We chose to team with Phase Forward on the basis of our successful collaboration on behalf of several pharmaceutical companies.
"That experience indicated the complementary nature of Phase Forward`s established leadership in EDC technology solutions and our expertise in providing clinical trial services to a broad range of industries.”
Steve Powell, Phase forward’s senior VP, echoed these thoughts, suggesting that: “Our InForm EDC solution is a perfect addition to PharmaNet`s expertise and we look forward to building on and expanding our work together."
Preclinical partnership with Azopharma
Collaboration has been an important part of PharmaNet’s strategy in recent weeks, starting with its accord with Azopharma.
That partnership, announced on October 15, saw PharmaNet and Azopharma team up on a business development plan to co-promote their respective strengths in early-stage drug development and clinical research.
At the time PharmaNet CEO Jeffrey McMullen said that the offerings are a good fit, explaining that the deal is an important boost for his firm in the preclinical toxicology and bioanalytics.
Azopharma CEO Phil Meeks was also upbeat about the collaboration, suggesting that: “Both companies will be introduced to new sets of clients and the clients will be exposed to new compelling solutions for their early phase development.”