Russia is on track to become the next big clinical research market; global pharma R&D spending is projected to top $100 billion in 2007. That’s part of the State of the Clinical Trials Industry 2007, an annual sourcebook produced by Thomson CenterWatch, a leading provider of information and solutions to the clinical trials industry. “State of the Clinical Trials Industry 2007” is a comprehensive resource that examines all aspects of the clinical trials industry, providing original CenterWatch data gleaned from in-depth industry analysis, physician and patient surveys and report-card-style ratings of pharmaceutical sponsors and clinical researchers.

DataTrak International, a technology and services company focused on global eClinical solutions for the clinical trials industry, has announced that it will host a conference call to discuss first quarter operating results at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, May 9, 2007. To participate via phone, participants are asked to dial 412-858-4600 a few minutes before 4:30 p.m. ET.

Unival, a provider of medical-related services, announced a complete suite of services for medical providers transitioning to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. Their proprietary data conversion solution is being used to quickly and cost-effectively convert patient records from paper to digital format for import into EMR systems. The digital data is then available for easy access at point of care, secure sharing with other providers, decision support, patient health tracking and clinical alerts such as drug interactions.

Education Management Solutions (EMS), a provider of comprehensive clinical skills training and performance assessment software applications, and SimMedical, a leader in the creation and management of integrated health care simulation training programs, have entered into a joint marketing agreement. The focus of the partnership is on helping health care providers improve clinical performance, reduce medical errors and increase patient safety.

AstraZeneca has launched a new initiative to address the lack of diversity in U.S. clinical trial participants. The big pharma company will provide significant grants to the National Medical Association (NMA), which represents more than 30,000 African American physicians, and the Inter American College of Physicians and Surgeons (ICPS), a network of more than 39,000 physicians throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. AstraZeneca expects that its ongoing partnership with NMA and ICPS will ensure that physicians of diverse backgrounds receive the education and tools they need to participate as investigators in clinical trials.

SoftLight Development, a source of process, system and IT solutions for the health care industry, announced the introduction of Manage My Data, a web-based data management application designed specifically for medical offices and practice management firms. Manage My Data is a secure, easy-to-use and fully HIPAA-compliant information management system. With this online solution, health care offices and management providers pay for only the storage capacity they need, while enjoying encrypted and password-protected access to patient data on a 24/7 basis from a web-based computer anywhere in the world.

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