Clinical technology suite Phase Forward reported another apparently effortless set of strong financial results. Revenues for the second quarter of 2007 were $31.5 million, a 28 percent increase from $24.7 million in the second quarter of 2006. Within total revenues, electronic data capture license, application hosting and other related revenues were $22.8 million, an increase of 39 percent. The company said its safety offerings continue to gain traction, with new demand for its Web Submission Data Manager (WebSDM) from Cephalon and Genzyme.

Phase Forward also announced a partnership with safety firm Sentrx. The new effort will combine their tools and services for safety data management and adverse event reporting software and processes. Among other services, Sentrx will offer Phase Forward’s web-based adverse event tracking and reporting system, Clintrace, through the Sentrx Managed Safety System Hosting Center. Joseph Albano, CEO of Sentrx, said: “As specialists in drug safety, we are particularly impressed with the leading-edge technologies developed by Phase Forward’s Lincoln Technologies safety division and look forward to exploring additional synergies in signaling and clinical data management.” Added Uwe Trinks, chief information officer of Sentrx, “The Clintrace product’s web-based capabilities will allow our clients direct access to their safety data, with a flexible level of involvement in adverse event reporting and pharmacovigilance processes. The level of access can be configured to meet the needs of small- and mid-sized pharmaceutical and biotech companies that have limited resources but want the benefits of a full pharmacovigilance team.”

arGentis Pharmaceuticals, a specialty pharmaceutical company, selected Target Health as its clinical research organization (CRO) partner for their upcoming clinical trials. “This alliance delivers us immediate speed and efficiency to our drug development efforts resulting in quality clinical trial data at high levels of regulatory compliance,” stated Tom Davis, arGentis’ CEO. “Target Health’s proven track record of NDA and PMA approvals verifies that we will be able to accrue valuable clinical study performance through enhanced planning and achieve favorable end points to our trials.”

OmniComm Systems, a provider of electronic data capture (EDC), said it has closed 15 new business deals in the second quarter of 2007. The company’s EDC solution, TrialMaster, will be used in both an ASP mode for the new trials and in two new technology transfer deployments for clients seeking to bring EDC in-house. Stephen Johnson, OmniComm’s senior VP of business development, commented, “The company’s escalating growth is a direct result of the drug development industry’s need for flexible and integrated solutions. TrialMaster provides sponsors with a feature rich EDC product that is easy to use, easy to integrate with and is not laden with hidden or exorbitant costs.”

Aptuit and Laurus Labs Limited announced the formation of a new contract drug development company, Aptuit Laurus, which will combine Aptuit’s global offerings in drug development with Laurus’ R&D and manufacturing expertise. The new company will provide pharmaceutical companies with integrated services, technologies and manufacturing capabilities that cover the entire drug development continuum. The new entity will be based in Hyderabad, India, with additional facilities in Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore. Aptuit Laurus will initially provide services in early-stage drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, lead optimization, process development, scale-up and process optimization, safety and hazard assessment, formulation development and analytical chemistry. Aptuit has further committed to invest $100 million over the next four years to build upon Aptuit Laurus’ development, manufacturing and informatics capabilities. Michael A. Griffith, founder and CEO of Aptuit, said: “We are committed to integrating all of our major systems including sales, contracts, IT, quality, project management and finance to present one face to our global customer base.”

Patni Computer Systems, a global IT services provider, announced the acquisition of Bridgewater, N.J.-based Taratec Development for $27.2 million. Taratec is a consulting company in the life sciences industry providing integrated business, information technology, regulatory compliance, pharmacovigilance and drug safety solutions. Patni can now offer a global delivery model that provides end-to-end capabilities complete with established, life science expertise in specific, high-demand areas. Sunil Chitale, senior vice president and head of the manufacturing practice at Patni, said: “[Taratec’s] 20 years of life science consulting experience, coupled with Patni’s integrated solutions model, strength in supply chain, enterprise applications deployment and business process outsourcing will provide customers with a highly reliable service delivery model that can support any aspect of their business or technology lifecycle.”

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