In this election season, there are too many unkind jokes about politics being the second-oldest profession. But that jesting got us to wonder. What is the second-oldest clinical trial technology? Paper was invented in China two thousand years ago, so the second-oldest prize belongs to ... interactive voice response (IVR), which depends on a mundane bit of…more...

Safety. Efficacy. Are those two cardinal notions of clinical development enough? Jean Paty has a third. He believes it is as central as safety and efficacy. Paty is co-founder and senior VP of scientific, quality and regulatory affairs at invivodata, a Pittsburgh, Penn., electronic patient diary firm. If safety and efficacy are the X and Y axes…more...

Are patient-reported outcomes a growth industry? A business? Philadelphia's ERT apparently thinks so, having just paid $81 million for the clinical trial business of Carefusion. The purchase could increase ERT's revenue by 50 percent, to perhaps $150 million yearly. That would put it in the general ballpark of the sales at Parexel's technology division or …more...

After doing 20 trials together, Quintiles and ediary supplier invivodata announced a closer partnership. For the large contract research organization, the relationship likely brings additional scientific firepower to a research niche newly legitimized by a final FDA guidance document in patient reported outcomes (PRO). For the Pittsburgh ediary supplier, meanwhile, the relationship will bring more projects and…more...