New Electronic and Web-based Applications, Sites, and Technologies
InfoMedics’ Treatment Educator Improves Patient Understanding and Increases Brand Loyalty
InfoMedics Inc. has released Treatment Educator, a tool for improving prescription compliance through patient education and treatment understanding. The educational materials describe the basic features of the prescribed medication — its purpose, how it works, potential side effects, and efficacy — along with common misconceptions that the patient might have about the medication. During a Treatment Educator program, patients are regularly surveyed and informed of proper drug adherence and appropriate expectations, thus ensuring that patients fully understand and comply with their physicians’ directions and treatment program. Designed also to measure the patient’s compliance with the prescribed medication, physicians receive a detailed report from InfoMedics regarding their patient’s treatment understanding, allowing for adjustments when necessary, thereby further increasing compliance and reducing potential risks. These reports facilitate crucial discussion at the point-of-care, augmenting the direct effects of the program on improving prescription compliance and treatment outcomes. The overall effect is stronger brand preference and loyalty with participating physicians and their patients. Treatment Educator can be deployed at any point in the brand’s life cycle. It uses the same approach as typical physician detailing and can be administered in conjunction with sample or voucher kits. The feedback reports delivered to participating physicians are focused on confirming that patients truly understand what the medication can do when taken as directed and are motivated to take the prescribed medication. “Several credentialed academic studies have shown that standard medication labeling does not ensure that patients adhere to their prescriptions properly,” says Robert Friedman, M.D., Cofounder and Senior Scientist, InfoMedics. Cognos Solutions Help Pharma Companies Improve Resource Allocation Cognos Inc. has launched two performance solutions designed to help companies improve clinical-trials management and optimize sample distribution across the salesforce to better meet corporate revenue targets. The new Cognos Clinical Trial Forecasting Blueprint helps pharmaceutical companies better anticipate clinical-trial resource requirements and accompanying expenses to comply with FDA filing requirements. Capitalizing on the robust multidimensional modeling and integrated workflow capabilities of Cognos 8 BI and this new Forecasting Blueprint, organizations can more accurately forecast, plan, and manage trial expenses; recognize and correct under-performing clinical trials; consolidate all trials to facilitate enterprisewide visibility and analysis; and drive greater accountability and control at each stage of the trial. The Cognos Sample Optimization Blueprint enables executives to develop and implement sample allocation plans that are in line with corporate revenue objectives. By providing an automated and consistent vehicle to solicit input from all stakeholders — including finance, sample administrators, brand managers, and operations managers — the tool helps organizations build optimal sample distribution strategies that take into account current market conditions, field-level information, inventory plans, and other corporate goals. “High-performance pharmaceutical companies require superior visibility and control of complex, mission-critical processes, such as clinical trials and sample-allocation planning, to stay competitive in this fast-paced industry,” says Bill Stevens, Senior Director of Life Sciences Solutions, Cognos. Nervana Releases Advanced Knowledge Discovery Solution Nervana Inc. has released version 3.0 of its Nervana Discovery Solution, a scientifically advanced and intelligent natural language query. The Nervana Discovery Solution significantly improves both the front-end user query/discovery experience and the backend processing of data from multiple, specialized, or proprietary data domains and information repositories. At the interface level, knowledge workers can, for the first time, instantly build appropriate natural semantic queries and quickly review the most relevant, timely results. The Nervana engine processes these searches across multiple ontologies as well as across multiple physical and semantic content sources — both online and proprietary — providing on-the-fly improvements in R&D efficiency, effectiveness, and return on investment. The award-winning Nervana Discovery Solution 3.0 allows knowledge workers to quickly and easily personalize the discovery process to their specific needs and preferences by instantly building complex queries, tracking results by relevance and timeliness, and readily collaborating with others. Key new features to the system include: breakthrough drag and drop functionality; live mode, allowing query results to stream in real-time across the user’s desktop, providing timely and personalized industry intelligence; and collaboration tools, such as built-in e-mail and reporting functionality, to enable information sharing among coworkers. The Nervana Discovery Solution allows companies to use natural semantic queries instead of basic keyword tools, which allows users to simultaneously capture the most relevant and timely information from across many different domains and information repositories (internal or external). The Nervana engine semantically ranks, links, and interprets data on-the-fly, using multiple industry or proprietary ontologies, to rapidly provide the most useful insight. “Rapid increases in the quantity and complexity of data make it difficult, if not impossible, for knowledge workers to use existing search technology to gain research insight in highly data and IP-intensive industries such as life sciences,” says Nosa Omoigui, chairman and CEO of Nervana Inc. “The Nervana Discovery Solution delivers a powerful and flexible technology for quickly and easily turning data into knowledge,” says Nosa Omoigui, Chairman and CEO, Nervana Inc. TNS Healthcare Launches Patient and Physician Marketing Solutions “From clinical-trial support to postmarketing surveillance, TPO provides a full range of services designed to optimize product performance across the life cycle,” says Barbara Levine, VP of Business Development for TNS Healthcare. TNS Healthcare has released a new line of Treatment Performance Optimization (TPO) services — a suite of clinically driven, multicountry brand and therapeutic-area marketing solutions that link successful drug development with optimal market launch, penetration, and performance. Initially focusing in the cardiometabolic arena, TPO leverages TNS Healthcare’s worldwide network of patient and physician panels to support a full range of pre- and postapproval clinical and marketing applications. The premarketing assessment applications help size new market opportunities; segment and profile patients; measure disease prevalence; and understand treatment pathways. The postmarketing surveillance applications enable marketers to analyze physician- and patient-reported outcomes; ensure appropriate use of medication; evaluate patient satisfaction and quality of life; assess safety and efficacy; determine how strictly physicians are following guidelines; evaluate treatment barriers; and identify patient-adherence and compliance levels. Ateb Integrates New Service Channel Ateb Inc. has expanded its Rx Patient Messaging service to meet the needs of clinical research for patient recruitment, physician referral, retention, mandatory study survey completions, and courtesy site visit reminder calls. The clinical component evolved from the company’s core competency of pharmacy workflow software. Additionally, Rx Patient Messaging provides real-time direct-to-consumer (DTC) interaction for opt-in programs measuring health-oriented outcomes. “Rx Patient Messaging solutions have evolved into a service portfolio completely centered on the patient,” says Sharen Godwin, VP of Rx Patient Messaging Solutions, Ateb Inc. etrials Releases eDiary 4.0 etrials Worldwide Inc. has released the latest iteration of its eDiary technology. eDiary 4.0 includes several new and updated features enabling sponsors to gain access to patient-reported outcomes faster and more efficiently while integrating seamlessly into the etrials eClinical Suite. Among the new features and functionality, eDiary 4.0 supports midstudy updates, allowing sponsors to control distribution of midstudy updates and segment the patient population with a more flexible configuration. Updates can be deployed across a study to all devices on a site or even to a single device. The Microsoft Windows-based system allows the technology a range of capabilities, including the ability to transfer data both wirelessly and/or wired with the same device — without modifying the software. This also enables the etrials eDiary software to be used on a wide variety of devices — from PDAs to mobile phones. etrials’ eDiary 4.0 allows the sponsor to purchase one hardware unit that can be adjusted to the available connectivity simply by inserting a wireless- or landline-capable modem card. The new system also is fully scaleable for all types of studies, including complicated multinational and multilingual studies. To further cut costs, etrials’ eDiary 4.0 technology is designed to be backward compatible, enabling sponsors to reprogram and redeploy devices for use in future studies to maximize their investment in hardware. The system includes a redundant back-up system that continually duplicates study data for additional security. It also fully integrates the data collected with etrials’ EDC without the need for additional data management. “etrials’ eDiary 4.0 not only makes collecting electronic patient reported outcomes more efficient, but also more adaptable to the wide variety of patient populations by offering an easily modifiable interface to work with any patient population from pediatric to geriatric,” says Richard Piazza, Pharm.D., VP of Product Strategy, etrials Worldwide Inc. To register for a FREE WebSeminar on e-clinical solutions, go to pharmavoice.com/weblinx/eclinical. Elsevier MDL Unveils Web-based Drug-Safety Product Elsevier MDL has released PharmaPendium, a drug-safety resource that provides researchers with access to an online collection of best-in-class drug-safety content, including searchable FDA approval packages. Available at pharmapendium.com, the resource was developed with input from various preclinical researchers using drug safety in their daily work. The Food and Drug Administration also provided extensive input under a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between the FDA and MDL Information Systems. Researchers and information specialists no longer have to order relevant packages and spend weeks or months sifting through long documents looking for pertinent information. The resource provides a longitudinal view of preclinical, clinical, and postmarket safety data, which allows researchers to determine what observed effects in animals translate to humans for similar candidate compound drugs. Additionally, the resource provides four pathways into drug-safety information: by drug (class), by adverse effect/toxicity, by target, and by chemical structure. PharmaPendium supports toxicologists, safety pharmacologists, drug-safety team members, and information specialists in the pharmaceutical sciences. Other key resources such as the Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), Meyler’s Side Effects of Drugs, and drug monographs from Mosby’s Drug Consult can be searched in seconds. “Drug safety is a pressing issue for the pharmaceutical industry, governmental regulators, and our public health,” says Lars Barfod, CEO of Elsevier MDL. “Our customers tell us that PharmaPendium meets a clear need for efficient access to drug-safety data and can help make an important difference in drug research. We believe this concept will be very useful to the scientific community and to our own research on the adverse effects and toxicological activities of pharmaceuticals. This resource could also be an important tool to facilitate the goals of the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative and to support drug-safety and drug-development programs.” “PharmaPendium meets a clear need for efficient access to drug-safety data, helping make an important difference in drug research,” says Lars Barfod, CEO, Elsevier MDL. invivodata Partners with Orange to Provide Secure, Reliable Wireless Data Transmissions invivodata Inc. and Orange have formed a strategic relationship through which Orange provides reliable wireless services for worldwide clinical trials using invivodata’s DiaryPRO electronic patient diary system. Patients using DiaryPRO typically transmit patient-reported outcomes (PRO) data daily from their wireless electronic diaries to invivodata’s trial-specific Website. Because investigators routinely review the Website to monitor patient data in real time, reliable wireless transmissions are vital to the overall success of the trial. Through this strategic relationship, DiaryPRO users gain access to a secure, custom wireless environment, ensuring that their data transfers occur effortlessly across Europe. This relationship with Orange also allows invivodata to deliver efficiency, cost savings, and greater control of the wireless environment to its pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. invivodata’s clients also benefit from the Orange network monitoring system and dedicated incident-response team, which enable the company to identify and proactively address issues before they affect patient or investigator usability. “By working with Orange we are meeting a critical need of wireless ePRO solutions in clinical research: a reliable data upload mechanism that enables patients to successfully provide trial sponsors with the data they need,” says John Tondra, VP of Worldwide Operations, invivodata Inc. Medidata Expands Customer Support Services Medidata Solutions Worldwide has strengthened its infrastructure and added resources to increase site support in response to the growing customer need for globally accessible, highly reliable, secure, and scalable application performance. Medidata has added a state-of-the-art data center in Houston to allow sponsors to rapidly benefit from Rave, a Web-based, EDC solution. The data center delivers all the benefits of a sponsor’s own internal hosting — reliable storage, accessibility, and protection of critical clinical data — without the costs, provisioning, ongoing maintenance, and security or privacy concerns associated with the delivery of Web-based applications. Medidata Hosting Services allow customers to access new server deployments within 24 hours and, with Rave’s thin-client architecture, immediately implement trials and manage clinical data globally without deploying unique hardware or software at the investigator site. To lead its Hosting Services, Medidata has appointed Louis Gilbert as VP of information technology. Mr. Gilbert brings 20 years of experience building and operating highly available enterprise application delivery solutions. “By investing in this data center, Medidata has demonstrated its dedication to safeguarding the sponsor’s most critical asset — clinical data,” Mr. Gilbert says. “The facility allows us to manage operational control points for our clients to deliver a secure, accessible, highly reliable, and scalable clinical data-management solution anywhere in the world.” “By investing in this data center, Medidata has demonstrated its dedication to safeguarding the sponsor’s most critical asset — clinical data,” says Louis Gilbert, VP of Information Technology. iAdvantage Joins Forces With Statsoft to Offer a a Fully-Integrated Statistical and Visualization Suite iAdvantage Software Inc. and StatSoft Inc. have partnered to deliver a full array of statistical and visualization capabilities within eSt dy version 5.0. StatSoft’s Statistica is a fully Web-based statistical analysis and visualization engine used globally by industry-leading life-sciences companies. iAdvantage eStudy v5.0 integrates this engine seamlessly so that the user is not only shielded from the complexities of learning a full statistical solution, but also is presented with the types of statistics and visualizations specific to his job function. Because eStudy users are not forced to export data to third-party applications for analysis, validation of the solution is a much simpler process. “By integrating the WebStatistica engine into the eStudy solution, we now are positioned to deliver a full palette of statistical analyses and visualizations of study data,”says Larry Laws, VP of Sales and Marketing, iAdvantage. “We can also respond to the specific needs for custom analyses for individual clients.” Guideline Launches Sales Intelligence Services In today’s 24-hour competitive marketplace, a salesforce does not always have the time, research expertise, and resources necessary to obtain insightful information or to better understand a prospect’s needs. To bridge this gap, Guideline Inc. has launched its Sales Intelligence Services designed to empower sales executives with business and market research, ranging from account planning to closing the sale. The tool provides the most current, relevant, and discerning prospect intelligence within 24 hours of an inquiry. After a direct consultation with a Guideline research manager, a sales executive receives a tailored briefing that analyzes the information and provides business profiles, current financial data, competitor information, and prospecting angles as well as other customized strategic intelligence. New service is designed to empower sales executives with business and market research ranging from account planning to closing the sale. Doctor’s Advocate Updates Physician- and Media-focused Website Doctor’s Advocate has redesigned it Website, doctorsadvocate.org, to serve as a medical-liability resource for physicians, patients, and the media. The Website retains information, including successes and testimonials, about Doctor’s Advocate’s expanding legal program, which protects physicians from frivolous lawsuits. New features include political action strategy for physicians, including links to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) liability reform pages; a media resource center with information about the medical liability and healthcare delivery crises, including press releases, shocking statistics, and edgy op-ed pieces; and a page for patients explaining threats to healthcare delivery and their rights to sue. “The medical malpractice and healthcare delivery crises in Pennsylvania and other states have not gotten better; they’ve gotten far worse,” says Robert B. Surrick, Executive Director of Doctor’s Advocate. Dendrite Enhances Sample-Management Solution Dendrite International Inc. has released Sample Guardian 4.1, the latest version of its solution for tracking, analyzing, and storing all pharmaceutical company sampling activity. The Web-based solution is built on Microsoft .NET, which provides the flexibility for improved integration within the pharmaceutical enterprise environment. Additionally, the system platform has been redesigned to enable significant functionality enhancements, including intuitive user navigation and the flexibility to better integrate with existing system infrastructures. Sample Guardian allows analysts and managers in the home office to keep detailed records and track all sample information conveniently through one system. It also enables pharmaceutical companies to notify the Food and Drug Administration of drug diversions and/or theft. With this tool, companies are able to keep accurate inventories of prescription drugs as well as their distribution and storage requirements. Sample Guardian’s enhancements include sample signature auditing, mail-fulfilled transactions, list builder, and adjustment transaction management. “Sample Guardian’s intuitive navigability, flexible architecture, and ease of use make it an invaluable offering for the pharmaceutical industry,” says Bill Buzzeo, VP and General Manager, Compliance Solutions Division, Dendrite International Inc. Wyeth Launches Customer-centric Website Responding to the changing informational needs of patients, physicians, and investors, Wyeth has unveiled an updated Website — wyeth.com — that features new informative content and capabilities, a new structure and format, and enhanced site navigation. The revamped Website includes a listing of past and current clinical trials as well as results for marketed products and information on Wyeth products, therapy areas, areas of research, and job listings. Also, in response to healthcare providers who stated a preference to access information online, the company is developing a host of services to support physicians’ needs for pharmaceutical and disease information. The site now offers more information on Wyeth products, therapy areas, and areas of research. Follow up Ateb Inc., Raleigh, N.C., develops and integrates scalable IT solutions, including interactive voice response (IVR) solutions for pharmacies as well as applications that comply with HIPAA privacy regulations. For more information, visit ateb.com. Cognos Inc., Burlington, Mass., develops enterprise software solutions for business intelligence (BI) and performance planning. For more information, visit cognos.com. Dendrite International Inc., Bedminster, N.J., enables sales, marketing, clinical, and compliance solutions for the global pharmaceutical industry. For more information, visit dendrite.com. Doctor’s Advocate, Pottstown, Pa., works to end the medical malpractice crisis by raising public awareness, lobbying for legislation to produce tort reform, and combating frivolous lawsuits with an aggressive legal service. For more information, visit doctorsadvocate.org. Elsevier MDL, San Ramon, Calif., provides informatics, database, and workflow solutions that accelerate successful life-sciences R&D by improving the speed and quality of scientists’ decision making. For more information, visit mdl.com. etrials Worldwide Inc., Morrisville, N.C., is an e-clinical software and services company offering pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and contract research organizations worldwide a suite of technology-based tools. For more information, visit etrials.com. Guideline Inc., New York, is a single-source provider of customized business research and analysis. For more information, visit guideline.com. iAdvantage, Cary, N.C., develops efficient, Web-based, electronic study-management and reporting tools to support the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. For more information, visit iadvantagesoftware.com. InfoMedics Inc., Woburn, Mass., is a pharmaceutical services provider offering a platform that improves the quality of the relationship between physicians and their patients. For more information, visit infomedics.com. Invivodata Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., combines behavioral science, information technology, and clinical expertise to capture high-quality electronic patient reported outcomes (ePRO) data in clinical research. For more information, visit invivodata.com. Medidata Solutions Worldwide, New York, provides innovative process design, technology, and services to help pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical- device, and research organizations maximize their clinical-research investments. For more information, visit mdsol.com. Nervana Inc., Bellevue, Wash., is a privately held knowledge discovery technology company. For more information, visit nervana.com. Orange, London, is a mobile communications company. For more information, visit orange.com. StatSoft Inc., Tulsa, Okla., produces enterprise and desktop software for data analysis, data mining, quality control/Six Sigma, and Web-based analytics. For more information, visit statsoft.com. TNS Healthcare, London, part of TNS, offers a suite of market-information services to support pharmaceutical, biotech, and device companies across the full life cycle. For more information, visit tns-global.com. Wyeth, Madison, N.J. is a research-driven pharmaceutical and healthcare products company. For more information, visit wyeth.com.