By acquiring ClearTrial, Oracle gains a single-software suite that allows pharmaceutical companies to manage clinical trials from planning to payment.
In its ongoing effort to
boost its health care portfolio, Oracle is acquiring
ClearTrial, a provider of cloud clinical
trial software. The deal gives Oracle a new portfolio of applications designed
to help manage the long, often-costly research process involved in the
development of new prescription drugs.
The enterprise software
giant will combine ClearTrial's platform with its own software for clinical
trials to make a single suite to handle the clinical drug trial process from
planning to payment.
Announced March 29, the deal
is expected to close in the first half of 2012. The two companies did not
disclose the financial terms of the deal.
With Oracle's deep software
lineup for the life sciences and health care applications, teaming up with the
company seemed like a good fit, according to ClearTrial CEO Mike Soenen.
"As the leading
provider of technology and applications for the life sciences and health care
industries, Oracle is the next logical step in our ability to best service our
customers and extend our solution's reach," Soenen said in a statement.
Like Oracle, ClearTrial
provides software for clinical drug trials. ClearTrial's applications offer
embedded intelligence to help life science companies manage the costs and
complexities of launching new drugs.
Oracle also offers software
such as the
Health
Sciences Trial Center application, which allows drug researchers to get a
single real-time view of multiple clinical trials in the cloud.
Biopharmaceutical
manufacturers such as Astra-Zeneca and Genentech use ClearTrial's software.
With the acquisition, drug
investigators will be able to more effectively manage clinical drug trials
across different locations, outsourcers, treatment types and trial phases,
according to Oracle.
ClearTrial's strength is in
helping researchers forecast the costs of drug trials, Oracle reported.
Software combined from the two companies will make budget planning and
forecasting more effective for drug manufacturers as well as medical device and
diagnostic companies, Oracle reported. Contract research organizations (CROs)
will also benefit from the acquisition, according to Oracle.
"Biopharmaceutical,
medical device and diagnostic companies, as well as CROs, are facing increasing
pressure to deliver clinical development projects on time and within
budget," Neil de Crescenzo, senior vice president and general manager for
Oracle Health Sciences, said in a statement.
It will also allow drug
researchers to gain transparency into the performance of trials as well as
collaboration, investing and decision making, according to the company. It
enables trial managers to create reports on the cost, resources and timelines
for drug research projects.
In addition, analytics and
algorithms in ClearTrial's software help researchers make decisions on the
efficacy of drugs. ClearTrial offers 200 therapeutic indications, along with
data from 90 countries.
By combining ClearTrial with
the Oracle Health Sciences Cloud, Oracle hopes to make the clinical development
process more cost-effective and better integrate data on clinical development
and managing the safety of drugs.
The Health Sciences Cloud
provides a secure environment for life science companies to capture data,
report patient outcomes, manage drug supplies and automate research clinics.
"Adding ClearTrial to
the Oracle Health Sciences Cloud will help our customers streamline the
clinical development process and help them bring therapies to market with
greater predictability and at lower costs," said de Crescenzo.
"Clinical trials are
being planned and managed with unprecedented rigor and specificity, given the
industry's trend toward globalization of R&D and the continued growth in
outsourcing," said Soenen.
Oracle and ClearTrial will
continue with separate product plans until the deal closes.
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