We dislike the phrase “tipping point.” It’s been overused to the point of meaninglessness. Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent book isn’t the problem. “Tipping point” should be retired, at least after we borrow its mojo ... just this once.

If the story of electronic data capture (EDC) has a tipping point, we cannot think of a better one than the contract research organization’s (CRO) new interest in the technology. Rightfully speaking, with the most to gain, the CROs should have been among the first to dive into EDC. That was not the case.

Now, however, many CROs are jumping in. We’ll have an in-depth look at another CRO’s technology pick (Kendle choosing ClinPhone) next week.

A few weeks back, the largest CRO of all, Quintiles, joined the parade. The company tells us that perhaps 45 percent of its studies will use the technology this year. That’s a ten point jump since 2006.

With one solution or another, Quintiles has used EDC at 19,000 sites that recruited 310,000 patients. The company has locked 130 clinical trials using EDC, and started almost twice that number. “The number of EDC trials we are conducting is growing,” says Alex O’Toole, Quintiles senior director and global head of EDC.

Phase Forward Wins

Since starting to use the technology in 2000, Quintiles had used all of the major systems in the industry. And in the end, it chose Phase Forward as the company that will be its preferred provider. Recently, perhaps 90 percent of Quintiles’ trials that used EDC have used Phase Forward, O’Toole says.

But O’Toole doubts that the 90 percent figure will hold. That’s because as the company uses EDC in progressively higher numbers of trials, it’s inevitable that it will be honoring some customer preferences to use other solutions.

“The majority of customers come to Quintiles for the expertise and service we have with EDC,” O’Toole says. “Thirty-five percent of companies will choose an EDC company prior to coming to us.” The remainder, i.e. 65 percent of customers, have no preference about an EDC vendor.

Other Choices

Like any CRO, Quintiles will accede to customer preferences; Quintiles and Medidata put out a press release reminding everyone of just that.

O’Toole took pains to try to make sure we understood that Quintiles respects the process and work that go into a sponsor picking an EDC solution. Quintiles will always honor that choice and tailor its proposal to reflect a customer’s preferences and contractual obligations. “We will be here to offer services with leading platforms,” says O’Toole.

Better Scalability?

Quintiles and Phase Forward seem to have arrived at an understanding about an appropriate division of labor. The territory that belongs to each appears to have been amicably staked out. “It’s important to set good ground rules,” says O’Toole. “It helps for a more healthy partnership in future.”

Quintiles also felt Phase Forward’s technology could scale for global trials. “Phase has a good proven track record when it comes to scalability,” says O’Toole. “It’s a very important area to get right. Scalability and reliability are the two things you find difficult to influence as a service company. There are other things you can help people overcome.”

User Preferences

Our working assumption is that Quintiles felt its own strong relationships with customers, no doubt the core of its reputation, would be best supported by Phase Forward. Implicitly, Quintiles knew it would have to stand behind its choice. “The CRO is often an extension of the [EDC] product being used,” says O’Toole.

During informal polls of the clinical research associates around the world, Quintiles came to believe there was a high level of comfort with the Phase Forward platform. “It’s essential that the end user is as happy as they can be,” says O’Toole. ”[Phase Forward’s InForm] was one of the simplest tools on the market for the clinical staff to use. It gives us a positive feeling that the acceptance of the technology within the site is going to be high.”

Shredding The Paper

For all his glowing remarks, it’s clear that the CRO still may have a few lingering concerns about the EDC community in general. “It’s becoming an easier thing for people to buy into,” he says of EDC. “But it only takes one company to create a situation around scalability or reliability, and the competency of EDC will drop again. You may see some [EDC providers] potentially not meeting the promises they put out.”

But all in all, the technology is something that customers want, and which Quintiles will continue to build its service offerings around. “We’re seeing a definite upturn in the interest,” O’Toole says. “It’s moving past interest to real planning on the choice of EDC over paper.” Sounds like a tipping point to us.